Why the legality of the Japan-India wide call shouldn't be debated

ICC rules are clear, and experts have amplified the point that the correct decision was ultimately made, albeit belatedly

The controversy over the legality of the wide ball call in the @L0$ is unwarranted. The rule books and experts have given the verdict and the umpire was perfectly well within his rights to reverse his decision. And as one former international umpire told this website, “In the end the right decision was made.”

The issue extended to India being labelled a bully in the immediate aftermath. Did the umpire reverse the decision under pressure and duress, or did he genuinely feel he was initially wrong and that the wrong had been righted? One would never know the answer to that question. The fact, however, is that by playing the reverse sweep, the batter had negated the leg-stump wide rule, and the correct rule was applied, albeit belatedly.

“The umpire can give an opinion call. In this instance I can say once you are playing reverse or switch hit, it is the same thing. Both sides become offside,” Anil Chaudhary, a former ICC international panel umpire, told Cricbuzz. The umpire making the call was Chris Thurgate of Japan.

“It is there in the ICC Almanac. It was not a wide ball. Chris Brown (the umpire at the striker’s end) is a good ICC umpire. I think he managed somehow and spoke to the other umpire. And ultimately, they corrected it,” Chaudhary said, amplifying the point that in international cricket and IPL, there were occasions when decisions were reversed.

The problem arose when Thurgate called the third delivery of the final over a wide. The batter, Alexander Shirai-Patmore attempted a reverse sweep, as he had done the previous delivery. In an ideal situation, even the previous delivery should not have been called a wide.

In a manual given to the umpires, the rules make it clear. “A batter attempts or shapes to play a reverse sweep or switch hit. In this instance, the wide guidelines will be applicable to both leg-side and off-side.” The rule goes on to add, “By the batter playing the witch hit or the reverse sweep or getting in a position to play the shot, they are deemed to bring the ball sufficiently within their reach on the leg side as well.

The rule further states, “Consequently, in these circumstances, 75cm wide guideline used in ODIs and T20Is shall apply on the off-side and the leg-side. Simply, when the batter plays or aborts playing a reverse sweep or switch hit, these shots negate the leg stump wide interpretation.”

Thurgate’s decision was seen with a magnified lens because India seemingly dodged a bullet and avoided an upset by Japan, ranked 41st in the T20I rankings. India successfully defended seven off the last over and won the rain-truncated, low-scoring game by two runs.

A section of the media, as well as social media, criticised the umpires, with some accusing the Indian team of bullying the umpires into changing the decision. One viral post read, “With five off four needed for the biggest upset in cricket history, India have just bullied the umpires into overturning a wide call against Japan. Genuinely disgraceful. No matter what happens from here, India berating the umpires because they are in danger of losing against Japan is very funny.”

But Chaudhary believes it is a different matter altogether whether the umpire came under pressure, since the right call was eventually made. “That is a different thing, yeah. Coming under pressure and doing this is a different thing. He (Thurgate) thought, let me speak to the other guy.

“Sometimes the umpires look at the senior partner who is seasoned, who understands all the playing conditions. Maybe they agreed before the match to consult. So, unless the next ball comes into play, or they call time, they can do it. That is the provision.

“They can do it. Umpire can revoke any time, unless the next ball has come into play or they have called time. They didn't call time. The match was not stopped. And the next ball, the run-up didn't even start. Ultimately, it is about the correct call.”

A wide call was reversed by the umpire in the final over of the Japan-India game