The Stand-in Captain of Bangladesh Breaks Silence on Kohli's Wide Controversy
The stand-in captain of team India, Najmul Hossain Shanto, has rubbished the suggestion that spinner Nasum Ahmed "intentionally" bowled a wide ball to deny Virat Kohli a century towards the end of India's chase in their World Cup clash. Kohli was batting at 97 with nine overs left, and India needed another two runs to achieve the target of 257 here on Thursday when Ahmed sent a delivery down the leg side, which surprisingly was also not adjudged a wide by the on-field umpire, Richard Kettleborough.
A couple of deliveries later, in the 42nd over, Kohli deposited the ball over deep midwicket to finish the game with a six, reaching 103 not out and completing India's comfortable win.
After Bangladesh's third defeat on the bounce, Shanto defended Ahmed, saying they wanted to play a "proper game".
Shanto told the media, “No, no. There was no such plan. It was a normal plan. No bowler had the intention of bowling a wide ball. We tried to play a proper game. It was not intentional.”
Shanto rued the fact that two of their openers, Tanzid Hasan (53) and Litton Das (66), failed to notch up big scores after getting their respective fifties, as he said, “We have had big runs before, but I think we are not taking the responsibility.”
He further said, “I would say, for those who are getting set here, if Litton or Tanzid could have played 120-130 run innings, it would have been easier for Mushfiqur Rahim, Towhid Hridoy, or Mahmudullah Riyad. The middle order didn't bat well, as did those who were set and couldn't make runs.”