The former umpire of the ICC Elite Panel, Simon Taufel has released his verdict on the no-ball controversy that arose from the Pakistan vs India encounter of the Super 12 stage of the ICC T20 World Cup 2022 on Sunday. Simon, one of the greatest umpire the world cricket ever witnessed, has clarified the entire matter saying everything was justified and there was no cheating in the game.
A massive portion of the fan line-up has been blaming India for cheating, as Dinesh Karthik and Virat Kohli duo ran for three, even though Kohli was cleaned bowled on a free-hit. All the drama happened in the final over, delivered by Mohammad Nawaz.
He dispatched a high-waist ball, which was smahsed for a six but was declared a no-ball. On a free-hit, Kohli again tried to knock another, but was cleaned bowled unluckily. Off-striker Karthik was in a hurry and ran as the duo complete three runs which was called byes by the leg umpire.
The Pakistani players and the fans were left confused what has happened as the ball should have been a dead ball and no byes should have been counted since the batter was bowled- some understands it is the rule, however, former umpire Taufel has clarified it is not and three runs were legally given.
“After the exciting climax to the India v Pakistan match at the MCG last night, l’ve been asked by many to explain the Byes that India scored after Kohli was bowled off the free hit,” Taufel wrote.
“The umpire made the right decision in signalling Byes after the batters ran three following the ball hitting the stumps and rolling down to 3rd man. For a free hit, the striker cannot be out bowled and therefore the ball is NOT dead on hitting the stumps – the ball is still in play and all conditions under the Laws for Byes are satisfied,”
Simon Taufel puts an end to dead-ball controversy!#INDvsPAK #T20WorldCup #SimonTaufel pic.twitter.com/7WW7Gk0Lal
— Siddharth Thakur (@fvosid) October 24, 2022
Notably, India managed to steal a miraculous win from Pakistan on the very last ball as Ravichandran Aswhin opted for a single on one needed off one.
