Simon Taufel, legendary Australian umpire, has finally broken silence on the controversial final over in the T20 World Cup match between arch-rivals Pakistan and India at the Melbourne Cricket Ground on Sunday.
In the last decisive over, the ball by Pakistani pacer Mohammad Nawaz deflected after hitting the wickets, as Indian hard-hitter Virat Kohli was bowled on a free hit.
On the same ball, Kohli and wicket-keeper Dinesh Karthik — who was on the strike’s other end — ran across the pitch to add three runs to their innings.
Pakistan captain Babar Azam and squad were upset at the umpires’ bye signals and checked if it was a dead ball. While the umpires dismissed the idea, a discussion across social media began after the Men in Blue were declared victorious in the mega game.
Taufel, too, shared his opinion on the matter and said that the umpires’ decision to signalling a bye was correct.
“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 on Linkedin.
“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.
