Cricket News

‘The umpires have made the right call’ – Simon Taufel puts doubters to rest regarding no-ball controversy

When India was awarded three runs, they ran off the free hit despite Virat Kohli being bowled. There were a million questions raised on social media over the legitimacy of the call. Now, One of Australia’s best umpires Simon Taufel has given his verdict on the matter and put all the doubters to rest.

India got a nail-biting win in their opening 20-20 World Cup encounter against Pakistan in Melbourne. The victor was decided on the last ball of the match. India was dead and buried at 31-4 but Virat Kohli played one of his best knocks and remained 82 not out to see India through in a tense chase.

Taufel shared his opinions on social media after he was asked a question about one of the deliveries that changed the course of the match where Kohli managed to get three runs despite being bowled off a ‘free- hit’. “After the exciting climax to the India v Pakistan match at the MCG last night, I’ve been asked by many to explain the Byes that India scored after Kohli was bowled off the free hit,” Taufel wrote.

Taufel gave a detailed explanation of the same

The former Australian umpire shared the playing conditions and went on to further elucidate as to why the on-field umpires had made the ‘right call’. “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,” he added.

Kohli in the last over smashed Mohammad Nawaz in the fourth ball of the over after he bowled a waist-high full toss. Babar Azam was fuming after umpire Rod Tucker signalled a no-ball.

In a game-changing over, Kohli was bowled by Nawaz on the free-hit ball, but they still managed to take three runs off that delivery. This angered the Pakistani players who expressed their frustration with the umpires. In the end, India was awarded three runs which helped team India script a famous win over Pakistan.