Indian cricket team crossed swords with the Pakistan cricket team in the Super 12 fixture of the 8th edition of the ICC Men’s Twenty20 World Cup 2022 on Sunday at Melbourne Cricket Ground.
The game certainly lived up to the hype and expectations of the fans. In fact, the nerve-wracking moments of the game kept the fans on the edge of their seats.
Batting first, Pakistan managed to post 157/8 in their quota of 20 overs. Shah Masood scored a superb half-century for the Green Shirts as he top-scored with 52 runs.
In reply, Pakistan’s total, Team India lost Rohit Sharma and KL Rahul for cheap scores and just as when India were trying to recover from the setback, they found support in the form of Hardik Pandya and Virat Kohli.
Both the batters steadied the ship by adding runs on the board and ended up constructing a valuable 113-run stand for the fifth wicket. The match-winning stand put the team in their comfort zone.
In the end, India beat Pakistan by 4 wickets and clinched the thriller. Ravichandran Ashwin hit the winning run for India by lofting the ball towards the mid-off for a single.
Simon Taufel gives his opinion on The India Vs Pakistan dead-ball controversy
During the last over of India’s innings in the run-chase against Pakistan, the cricket fraternity witnessed a drama when Kohli smashed a waist-high full toss for a six over a deep square leg and then appealed to the umpire for a no-ball.
To which, the umpire Rod Tucker at the bowling end signalled a no ball. When Nawaz bowled a wide in the next delivery in his attempt to keep it away from Kohli.
So, the wide ball actually meant the free hit stayed or else Virat Kohli would have made his way back to the dressing room after getting bowled.
Meanwhile, Kohli and Dinesh Karthik ran three and the Pakistan team was unhappy with the decision and asked whether it was a dead ball. Meanwhile, the legendary umpire Simon Taufel has opened up on the issue.
“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,” Simon Taufel wrote on LinkedIn.
“The ICC Playing condition is below. 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.”