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Acting Bangladesh skipper, Najmul Hossain Shanto, clarified that the wide ball bowled to India's star batsman, Virat Kohli, when he was nearing his century, was unintentional. Despite this hiccup, Kohli clinched India's win with a six against spinner Nasum Ahmed in the 42nd over, marking his 48th ODI century.
"No, no. There was no such plan. It was a normal plan. No bowler had the intention to bowl wide ball. We tried to play a proper game. What was the other one? Tamim batted very well. I think it didn't go well for him for the last few innings but the way he batted today was very good. But the team expects a bigger innings from him. So, I hope he will play a bigger innings in the future if the opportunity comes," Shanto said in the post-match press conference.
Virat Kohli not only completed his century but remained unbeaten on 103 runs off 97 balls. 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.
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