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It was a classic Virat Kohli run chase for Team India on October 19 (Thursday) when they took down Bangladesh by seven wickets at the Maharashtra Cricket Association Stadium in Pune in an ODI World Cup clash. From timing a cover drive to timing a century, Kohli displayed impeccable game awareness and was dully assisted by his partner-in-crime KL Rahul. In the end, over a million fans got their wishes granted as Kohli not only completed his century but remained unbeaten on 103 runs off 97 balls.
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At one point in time, it appeared as if not enough runs were left in the run chase for Kohli to complete his century and even it seemed like the Bangladesh bowlers did not want Kohli to get to the milestone. On two occasions they bowled wide deliveries and tried to rob the former Indian skipper of a well-deserved hundred. However, umpire Richard Kettleborough identified what they were trying to do and gave Kohli a chance to get to the three figures.
While the first wide was called by the square leg umpire in Hasan Mahmud's over, in the next over umpire umpire Richard Kettleborough took matters into his own hands. Left-arm spinner Nasum Ahmed bowled from round the wicket and fired the ball down the leg side. Kohli let the ball go into wicketkeeper Mushfiqur Rahim's gloves. He was visibly frustrated by the spinner's tactics. But umpire Kettleborough did not call it a wide. Kohli then decided to finish it off early and finished the match with a six to get to his century.
Was that a wide or a terrific decision?
According to the earlier guidelines of the MCC Laws of Cricket: "If the bowler bowls a ball, not being a No ball, the umpire shall adjudge it a Wide if, according to the definition in 22.1.2, the ball passes wide of where the striker is standing and which also would have passed wide of the striker standing in a normal guard position."
But what many people are not aware of is that the wide rule was slightly tweaked in October 2022 and the revised law says: "In the modern game, batters are, more than ever, moving laterally around the crease before the ball is bowled. It was felt unfair that a delivery might be called ‘Wide’ if it passes where the batter had stood as the bowler entered his/her delivery stride."
"Therefore, Law 22.1 has been amended so that a Wide will apply to where the batter is standing, where the striker has stood at any point since the bowler began their run up, and which would also have passed wide of the striker in a normal batting position," the MCC had said in a statement at the time.
Thus, the new rule played a massive role in umpire Kettleborough's decision.
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