NEW DELHI: Social media has erupted with heated reactions following a controversial runout decision in India’s opening Women’s T20 World Cup match against New Zealand.
The incident took centre stage on the last ball of the 14th over of the encounter on Friday.
New Zealand’s Amelia Kerr pushed the ball to long-off and began running for a second run at the call of her skipper, Sophie Devine.
Harmanpreet collected the ball and took a few steps forward in the lackluster manner but did not immediately throw it, leading Devine to believe that there was a narrow room to steal a sharp second.
On the other hand, the umpire had already handed the cap to Indian bowler Deepti Sharma, which traditionally signals the end of the over.
However, Harmanpreet, seeing Devine’s intentions, threw the ball to wicketkeeper Richa Ghosh, who knocked off the bails in a flash, catching Kerr short of her crease and sparking a debate over the legality of the runout.
In the end, nevertheless, Devine survived as the umpire had already called the over. Harmanpreet and multiple staff from the coaching team, including head coach Amol Muzumdar, were seen holding discussions over the controversial decision with the match officials.
The incident has quickly become a hot topic of debate, with various theories circulating across social media platforms.
Following the incident, Indian cricketer Ravichandran Ashwin fueled the discussion on social media, tweeting, “The over was called before the start of the second run. Whose fault is this really?”
However, his post was later deleted.
A fan also took to X to show his discontent over the call.