Did umpire Richard Kettleborough 'assist' Virat Kohli get his 100 by not awarding a wide ball during his 48th century? Explained

 Did umpire Richard Kettleborough 'assist' Virat Kohli get his 100 by not awarding a wide ball during his 48th century? Explained

After refusing to call a Wide, umpire Richard Kettleborough is the subject of several comments. When Virat Kohli was at 97 and Nasum Ahmed was bowling, India needed 2 runs to win. The ball down the side of the leg. As is common knowledge, every delivery in limited overs cricket that lands on the leg side is instantly referred to as a wide ball. But it didn't go like that.

Many claim that Kettleborough purposefully did it so that Kohli could get his hundred. Some people joke that the umpire ought to get the "Player of the Match" award, while others think the umpires panel need to take this seriously.

On X (previously Twitter), a person said that "Now onwards Cricket is rigged by the nasty act by Chokli and the umpire Richard Kettleborough." Another person chimed in, "Give him a medal for best umpire of all time."

New Wide Ball regulations

Wisden cited Clause 22.1.1 of the MCC Laws of Cricket as saying, "If the bowling player bowls a ball, the ball not being a No ball, the referee shall adjudge it a Wide if, pursuant to the definition in 22.1.2, the ball traverses wide of where the striker is standing while it also would have passed wide of the striker seated in a normal guard position."

Clause 22.1.2 states that a ball shall be deemed to have passed wide of the striker unless it is sufficiently close for him to be able to hit it with the bat using a standard cricket stroke.

However, this rule was changed (starting in October 2021) "so that a Wide is applicable to where the batter is standing, where the batter has been at any point since the bowler began his innings up, and which would also have passed outside of the striker in a normal batting position"

Was it a Wide Ball, then?

The ball would have reached Virat Kohli if you consider his starting position ("since the bowler began their run up"). However, he shifted, causing the ball to go down his leg. So it seems that Kettleborough made a reasonable decision.

VK could have hit a six and reached his hundred, even if it had been deemed a Wide Ball.

Disagreement about not accepting singles

King Kohli is also under criticism for passing up opportunities for simple singles in order to keep the strike for his century. Later, Kohli's then-partner KL Rahul disclosed what was going through Kohli's thoughts.

He was truly perplexed. It wouldn't seem too great to not take a single, he added. After all, it's still a World Cup game. I don't want to seem as like I'm looking for a milestone because it's a huge stage. But I said, "It's not won, but we'll still win it pretty easily, so why not?" if you can reach the milestone. You have to try. I wasn't going to run singles, and he ended up doing that. Informed Star Sports, Rahul.