The on-field umpire suggested that the spinner, who featured in the U-19 World Cup earlier this year, was trying to distract the batsman using unfair means. The two umpires then explained what just transpired to the bemused set of fielders and the captain of the bowling side.
Here is a video of the incident:
While the action that preceded the delivery was certainly strange, there are laws in place to let the umpire judge whether it was unfair play or not. Law 41 deals with unfair play and section 41.2 clearly states that it is the job of the umpire to decide whether it was fair or not.
Law 41.19 deals with “Unfair actions” and clears states that the umpires have the final say.
The law also goes on to state that the umpire can go on to issue a first and final warning to all members of the side committing the offence and warn that any similar offence in the future will result in the opposing team being awarded 5 penalty runs.
In this case, the umpires decided that the bowler doing a 360-degree turn before delivering the ball was unfair play and warned the captain as a result. However, that left the UP fielders and the bowlers bemused.
Whether the umpire made the right call or not is still up for debate. But one thing is for certain. That just opened a new can of worms and while some like Michael Vaughan is in support of it, that opinion is going to be far from universal.
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