Virat Kohli is enjoying incredible form at the T20 World Cup as he currently stands as the leading run-scorer of the tournament. The former India captain has so far accumulated 220 runs from four matches, which include three half-centuries. While Kohli has been making news for his stellar run in the tournament, fingers have also been pointed against India’s premier batter for putting the umpires under pressure.
The first of the two incidents took place in the epic India vs Pakistan clash in Melbourne, and had left several fans from across the border fuming. During a tense final over, umpire had signaled a delivery by Mohammad Nawaz as a no-ball, judging it was above the waist. The fans had then argued that umpires made the no-ball signal after Kohli’s gesture.
A similar scene was witnessed during the clash between India and Bangladesh in Adelaide on Wednesday, where umpire Marais Erasmus adjudged a short delivery by Hasan Mahmud as no-ball, with Kohli once again seen gesturing towards the official.
The moment was discussed in length by Pakistan legends Wasim Akram, Waqar Younis and Shoaib Malik during their interaction on A Sports. It was then pace legend Waqar Younis stated that considering the stature Kohli holds, umpires sometime feel the pressure and oblige to him.
“Shakib is saying you do your batting, let the umpires do their work. He is saying the same things that we said. That if you are going to call something, you are going to put pressure on the umpire, then of course he is a big name. So sometimes umpires are under pressure,” the ex-cricketer said during the discussion.
Akram, however, backed Kohli and said: “I think it’s a natural thing for the batsman, if they see a wide, they gesture to the umpire anyway. I don’t know the laws of today. Maybe a present player can tell us.”
