Chandigarh, August 4
There were some embarrassing moments for Team India in the first T20I match played against the West Indies at the Brian Lara Stadium in Tarouba.
One incident that grabbed everyone’s attention from the match was spinner Yuzvendra Chahal walking out to bat at number 10 for India. In the final over of the match, India at 140/7, needed 10 runs to win. On the first ball of the over, Kuldeep Yadav was bowled by Romario Shepherd. With 10 needed off five deliveries, Chahal walked in to bat. This was followed by utter confusion as India captain Hardik Pandya and coach Rahul Dravid wanted debutant Mukesh Kumar to walk in at number 10.
As soon as Chahal got to know about it by substitute Umran Malik, he walked off the field trying to return to the dugout. However, the two on-field umpires Gregory Brathwaite and Patrick Gustard asked Chahal to stay back and bat enforcing Law 25.2 that deals with the beginning of a batter's innings.
"The innings of the first two batters, and that of any new batter on the resumption of play after a call of Time, shall commence at the call of Play. At any other time, a batter’s innings shall be considered to have commenced when that batter first steps onto the field of play," the law reads.
Not that Mukesh Kumar would have made any great impact with the bat but the team management had little faith in the leg spinner’s abilities with the willow. And what followed reflected poorly on Team India’s management.
Netizens had a field day reacting to the chaos.
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