Indian sports commentator Harsha Bhogle gets widespread criticism for defending Virat Kohli on ‘fake fielding’ in the match against Zimbabwe.
The incident called in criticism from the entire cricket fraternity, particularly from Bangladeshi cricket fans. According to several unconfirmed reports, Bangladesh will raise the matter of dubious umpiring with ICC in the match against India. The team is not happy with umpiring ignoring the call of the Bangladeshi skipper to not resume the match in the wet stadium after the rain and not taking the action against Virat Kohli’s fake fielding.
Harsha while defending Virat Kohli said, “On the fake fielding incident, the truth is that nobody saw it. The umpires didn’t, the batters didn’t and we didn’t either. Law 41.5 does make provision for penalizing fake fielding (the umpire still has to interpret it thus) but no one saw it. So what do you do!”
What if someone says the umpire didn't see the NO ball, but he only gave it after Virat Kohli asked him for the NO ball? I don't think that's a valid statement Mr. Harsha, with all due respect 🙏
The truth is umpires favour the Indian team.— Devon De Vesser (@devondevesser_) November 3, 2022
I don't think anyone can complain about the ground being wet. Shakib was right when he said it should favour the batting side. The umpires and curators have to keep the game going till it is not possible to do so. And they handled it very well so that minimum time was lost
— Harsha Bhogle (@bhogleharsha) November 3, 2022
Just because nobody see spot fixing or ball tampering happening, does it make them legal? https://t.co/o2lpkxBAXO
— M Asim Ameer Khan (@itsasimameer) November 3, 2022
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He said, “I don’t think anyone can complain about the ground being wet. Shakib was right when he said it should favor the batting side. The umpires and curators have to keep the game going till it is not possible to do so. And they handled it very well so that minimum time was lost,” said Bhogle in his tweet.
“So, for my friends in Bangladesh, please don’t look at fake fielding or wet conditions as a reason for not reaching the target. If one of the batters had stayed till the end, Bangladesh could have won it. We are all guilty of it….when we search for excuses, we don’t grow,” he added further in his tweet.
Pakistani fans have also expressed angst over the alleged favor to the Indian team in the match. Harsha Bhogle is receiving flak not only from within Pakistan and Bangladesh but also from other countries too.