Former New Zealand cricketer, Grant Elliot has shared his two cents on the ‘no ball and free hit’ controversy during the high-octane clash between Pakistan and India in the 2022 T20 World Cup. Elliot believes that the incident could spark a change and International Cricket Council (ICC) will look to change the rules after the conclusion of the mega-event.
The former Kiwi all-rounder took to Twitter to voice his opinion on the matter. He tweeted, “Why do I feel like there will be a rule change post this World Cup?”
The incident which occurred during the last over of the epic encounter between the arch-rivals triggered a massive debate on social media as the ICC rules did not clearly state the free-hit rule.
Firstly, the leg-umpire called a controversial no-ball as he deemed Nawaz’s ball to be above Kohli’s waist, although the replay showed that it was marginal and the leg-umpire should have consulted the third umpire for the final decision.
On the following ball, Kohli was bowled on a free hit but the ball deflected off the stumps which enabled the batters to run three extra runs. The game-changing moment caused an uproar as the fans believed that the ball should have been dead after hitting the stumps, but according to the ICC rules, this is not the case.
The two decisions by the umpires shifted the match in India’s favor as they registered a 4-wicket win over their neighbors in the opening match of Group B in the 2022 T20 World Cup.
What do you think? Should the ICC change this particular free-hit rule? Share your thoughts in the comments!