Umpire ‘violates’ rules to help Virat Kohli complete his century. Richard Kettleborough, the on-field umpire in yesterday’s match between Bangladesh and India, got into trouble for allegedly assisting Virat Kohli in reaching his ODI century by allegedly failing to signal a clear wide.
India was chasing a 257-run target when a contentious call was made in the 42nd over at Pune Stadium, where Kohli was just three runs away from reaching his 78th international hundred and the Team Blue needed two runs to win.
Nasum Ahmed bowled the first ball, which traveled down Kohli’s leg side. However, the umpire did not signal wide, which caused controversy because declaring the ball wide could have prevented the batter from reaching a century.
Kohli hit a six after the second ball was a dot, finishing his century and giving his team their fourth straight victory.
However, Richard Kettleborough is receiving flak on social media, where people claim he broke the rules in favor of Kohli.
As Umpire ‘violates’ rules to help Virat Kohli complete his century, following are the reactions:
Not just KL Rahul, even the umpire wants Virat to score a century…😂😂#indiavsbangladesh #IndVsBang #BANvsIND #BANvIND #CWC23 pic.twitter.com/9nr7nUhbdD
— VJ (@VJsGamer) October 19, 2023
Just came across the video of Umpire not giving wide to Virat Kohli!
It would be a clear wide on any day. Even Kohli’s reaction said the same. Nothing against Virat’s effort, but this is not right for an umpire to be influenced by a player’s milestone.
Today, it was for a… pic.twitter.com/Y0RDeutINz
— Himanshu Pareek (@Sports_Himanshu) October 19, 2023
Richard Allan Kettleborough, a former first-class cricket player for Yorkshire and Middlesex who played in 33 first-class games as a left-handed top-order batsman and occasionally as a right-arm medium-pace bowler, is now an English international cricket umpire.
