Former India player turned commentator Aakash Chopra slammed the people questioning India’s two-run win over Japan in the one-off T20I at the Sano International Cricket Ground on Tuesday, September 22, as well. The match faced controversy after the on-field umpire reversed a wide decision in the final over of the rain-curtailed five-over-per-side game as well.
Japan needed only eight runs in the final over against Axar Patel, and they had the advantage after Axar bowled consecutive
wides. Team India was upset at the on-field umpire Chris Thurgate’s decision-making, as they felt that the batter was attempting the reverse sweep as well. After deliberation with the square leg umpire, the ball was deemed legal, and Japan could only manage to score three runs off the last three balls as well.
“People are saying that India beat Japan by cheating. This is being said because a wide was overturned, and the decision was reversed because India put pressure. People are just creating chaos. There are a lot of people who want to abuse India. You cannot say that we won unfairly, because it was not unfair,” Aakash Chopra said on his YouTube channel.
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“My understanding at the time was actually wrong. If you don’t hit the switch hit, if you have not swapped your hands, that means you have not become a right-handed batter from a left-handed batter. I felt that the wide line on both sides is given in favour of the bowler when a switch hit is played, not when you play a reverse sweep,” he further added.
However, social media started questioning why the decision was overturned even though the player had attempted a sweep shot, not a switch hit, making him a left-handed batter as well. However, Aakash Chopra added that the ICC views both unorthodox shots under the same category, giving bowlers full access to the wide lines on both sides of the stumps as well.
“The second complication was that, at the time of delivery, right when the bowler released the ball, did the batter change his stance or not? My initial understanding was that if the stance is not changed before the ball is bowled, then wide shall remain a wide. But my understanding was wrong. I went through the rules and listened to the umpires, and according to the new ICC rules, it does not discriminate between a switch hit and a reverse sweep,” Aakash Chopra explained.
“So, point one, they view both shots in the same way. Secondly, whether the ball is in the hand or released from the hand, it does not matter when you change your position. It will be counted as the batter having changed his position. So, the benefit of the doubt will go to the bowler. You are both a left-hander and a right-hander in the eyes of the law,” he concluded.
