Bangladesh’s ‘deliberate wide’ to deny Kohli is a topic of discussion between Gill and Shanto; new law insufficient to justify umpire Kettleborough. Shubman Gill, the opener for India, and Najmul Hossain Shanto, the stand-in captain for Bangladesh, responded when asked if Nasum Ahmed had attempted a wide to deprive Kohli a century.
At the MCA Stadium in Pune on Thursday, during the final fifteen minutes of India vs. Bangladesh World Cup 2023, a sequence of events occurred that was both unexpected and, to some extent, unneeded.
It was obvious for a long time that India would win, but attention was drawn to Virat Kohli’s desperate attempts to reach his century by stopping as many as three singles he held the strike for 19 consecutive deliveries. With a six, Kohli did reach his century, but the drama was far from over.
When Kohli was on 97 and India needed two to win, Bangladeshi left-arm spinner Nasum Ahmed struck one down the leg side a few balls prior to that six. To the dismay of many, on-field umpire Richard Kettleborough chose not to call it a wide. Later on, we will discuss this debate. First up, let’s discuss if Nasum intentionally attempted to bowl wide in order to prevent Kohli from scoring a century.
In the post-match press conference, India’s opener Shubman Gill was questioned about the same thing after his team defeated Bangladesh by 7 wickets to tie New Zealand at 8 points after 4 games. Gill expressed his uncertainty. “You’re surprised by what? The choice or the endeavor? “I’m not sure if he was trying to keep it tight or if he was trying to intentionally try to bowl wide,” he added.
Gill and Kuldeep Yadav laughed heartily when the cameras panned to the Indian dressing room right after that non-wide call. Gill answered the question with a nearly same expression. That was not the case, though, with Najmul Hossain Shanto, the batter from Bangladesh, leading the team in place of an injured Shakib Al Hasan.
Two separate journalists questioned Shanto twice about whether he or any other Bangladeshi cricket player had told Nasum to purposefully bowl Kohli a wide while he was getting close to his century.
