Bangladesh accuses Virat Kohli of fake fielding. What does the law say?

T20 World Cup 2022: Team India celebrates its win over Bangladesh

Bangladesh and India played out a thriller at the Adelaide Oval as the Men in Blue pipped their opponents to the post by just 5 runs.

However, there was one potential incident that could have turned the result towards Bangladesh's favour according to its wicketkeeper Nurul Hasan.

@imVkohli was spotted distracting a #Bangladeshi batsman by doing "fake fielding" As per the law, #India was supposed to be given 5 runs penalty for such a shameful act by Kohli. The on-field umpires didn't even care to recheck and instantly denied taking any action.#INDvsBAN‼️ pic.twitter.com/2qc4bU9NC8

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— Nayon Sorkar #ClimateJustice (@NayonSorkarBD) November 2, 2022

Speaking to reporters after the tense finish on Wednesday, Hasan accused India's Virat Kohli of fake fielding, which carries a penalty of 5 runs.

The alleged fake fielding happened in the seventh over, just before rain interrupted play at the Adelaide Oval. With the score reading 62/0 after 6.1 overs, opener Litton Das took a single towards the off-side boundary of Axar Patel, with Arshdeep Singh manning the ropes. Singh then threw the ball towards wicketkeeper Dinesh Karthik and as the ball went past Kohli, stood at point, he pretended to catch and throw the ball towards the bowler's end.

Neither the batsmen nor the on-field umpires noticed Kohli's feign when it happened so no action was ever taken.

Hasan said after the game: "We all saw that it was a wet ground. "Eventually, when we talk about these things, there was also a fake throw. It could have been a five-run penalty. That also could have gone our way, but unfortunately, even that didn't materialise."

The video of the incident does show Kohli faking a throw at the non-striker's end exactly as the ball goes past him.

But does the law rule that as fake fielding?

According to section 41.5 in the cricket rule book that talks about unfair play, fielders are penalised for "deliberate distraction, deception or obstruction of [the] batter". If the umpire notices the incident and deems it a breach of rules, they can declare a dead ball and award the batting side, in this case, Bangladesh, five penalty runs.

Fans with differing loyalties have contrasting opinions on the incident, but the umpires at the time did not notice the supposed transgression.

Bangladesh would be rueing the missed chances but had the fake fielding incident gone its way, India would have most likely ended up on the losing side.