Cricket
Whose side are you on?
Updated : Nov 08, 2018, 04:42 PM IST
Former India captain Bishan Singh Bedi has slammed the bowling action of an Under-23 cricketer from Uttar Pradesh (UP). During a CK Nayudu Trophy U-23 match between UP and Bengal recently, left-arm spinner Shiva Singh sparked a controversy of sorts after he bowled a delivery with what can only be described as a bizarre bowling action.
The incident took place in Kalyani when Shiva, who has represented India in the Under-19 World Cup, took a 360-degree turn during his run-up to bowl a ball. Umpire Vinod Seshan immediately called it a dead-ball, prompting players from the UP team to question the decision.
Bedi tweeted a video of the delivery on Thursday, terming Shiva a 'weirdo' in his post.
Here's the tweet
Weirdo...!! Have a close look..!! pic.twitter.com/jK6ChzyH2T
— Bishan Bedi (@BishanBedi) November 7, 2018
Was Shiva's 'action' within the rules of the game? Here's what The Lord's website states in terms of the law:
41.1 Fair and unfair play – responsibility of captains
The captains are responsible for ensuring that play is conducted within The Spirit of Cricket, as described in The Preamble – The Spirit of Cricket, as well as within the Laws.
41.2 Fair and unfair play – responsibility of umpires
The umpires shall be the sole judges of fair and unfair play. If either umpire considers an action, not covered by the Laws, to be unfair he/she shall intervene without appeal and, if the ball is in play, call and signal Dead ball and implement the procedure as set out in 41.19. Otherwise umpires shall not interfere with the progress of play without appeal except as required to do so by the Laws.
Shiva, though, found support from former England captain Michael Vaughan, who tweeted saying there was no issue with what the youngster did.
Here's his tweet
Love this ... We keep saying bowlers must bring new innovation ... No Issue at all with this ... #Itsa10fromLen https://t.co/OqFH09PDuL
— Michael Vaughan (@MichaelVaughan) November 8, 2018
So whose side are you on? Bedi or Vaughan? Should bowlers be allowed such liberties with cricket becoming more and more a batsman's game? Or is such a 360-degree action simply unfair to a batsman?