Bangladesh suffered a narrow four-run defeat to South Africa in their second T20 World Cup match. Bangladeshi fans believe they were unjustly deprived of four crucial runs when a delivery struck Mahmudullah Riyad's pad and crossed the boundary rope. However, a controversial ICC rule meant no runs were awarded to Bangladesh.
The incident occurred in the 17th over of Bangladesh's innings. Mahmudullah attempted to flick a delivery from Ottneil Baartman but missed, the ball hitting his front pad before deflecting to the boundary. South Africa appealed for LBW, and umpire Sam Nogajski raised his finger. Mahmudullah immediately sought a DRS review, which revealed the ball was missing leg stump, overturning the dismissal.
However, the boundary was not added to Bangladesh's total due to the existing ICC rule stating that once an umpire makes an out or not-out decision, the ball becomes dead, regardless of the DRS outcome.
The impact of this incident proved significant, as Bangladesh ultimately lost the match by precisely four runs—the exact number denied due to the controversial rule.
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This has ignited widespread controversy in the cricketing world, raising questions about the fairness of the rule. Former Bangladesh captain and opener Tamim Iqbal urged the ICC to seriously reconsider this rule.
In an interview with ESPNcricinfo, alongside South African Morne Morkel, Tamim suggested that umpires should take a few more seconds to make such crucial calls.
“You have time, you can wait a couple of seconds to see where the ball is going—whether it's going for a boundary or not. Then you can make your decision. Regardless of anything, I strongly feel that if the batter is not out and the ball hits their thigh pad or pad and goes for a boundary, it should be given as runs,” Tamim said.
“This is something the ICC can seriously look into,” the former Bangladesh captain added, acknowledging that he may sound biased but expressing his genuine sentiment.
Morkel echoed Tamim's sentiments, saying that he hopes for a rule change after the World Cup.
Former Indian opener Wasim Jaffer also criticized the current law, taking to social media to express his disapproval.
“Mahmudullah was wrongly given out LBW, the ball went for four leg byes. The decision was reversed on DRS. Bangladesh didn't get the 4 runs as the ball is dead once the batter is given out, even if wrongly,” he wrote on his social media account.
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With a fresh scar of a heartbreaking defeat, Bangladesh team has now arrived in the West Indies for their next two matches against the Netherlands and Nepal. They, with a win in the first match against Sri Lanka, still have a good chance of qualifying for the next round of the tournament.