Did the ICC's change in wide law help Virat Kohli score his 48th ODI century?

A non-wide call from umpire Richard Kettleborough helped Virat Kohli smash a wonderful century against Bangladesh in the Cricket World Cup.

Having won all four of their group stage matches at the ICC Cricket World Cup 2023 so far, all is well inside the Indian dressing room. Clips of the players’ hyper reactions to the best fielder of the day award go viral on social media after every matchday and there’s an extremely positive atmosphere that reflects on the faces and smiles of the players.

As harmonious the Indian dressing room may be, the situation on social media couldn’t be more polarising following the Men in Blue’s seven-wicket victory over Bangladesh in Pune on Thursday. A routine run-chase became a one man show led by Virat Kohli in search of his 48^th ton in this format.

With seven wickets in hand as well as nearly 10 overs to spare, Kohli had the luxury to keep the strike and look for the glory shots as there were not enough runs on the board to see him through to the three-figure mark.

KL Rahul, who missed out on a century because of the same reason in the opening encounter against Australia, was more than happy to oblige. And so Kohlimania took over Pune as the star Indian batter brought up his third World Cup century and climbed to second place in the run-scorers’ standings behind teammate Rohit Sharma.

However, there was one contentious moment that struck a chord with cricket fans on the internet. In the 42^nd over, umpire Richard Kettleborough refused to call a wide despite spinner Nasum Ahmed sending a ball clearly down the leg side. Calling a wide during that moment would’ve levelled the scores for both sides but would’ve left Kohli stranded without a century.

The decision prompted criticism online with many believing that the umpire gave Kohli the chance to complete his century instead of making an impartial judgement of the delivery. However, it must be mentioned here that the Laws of Cricket were amended in 2022 and that rule change may have played in Kohli’s favour in this particular scenario. Although it was introduced to add to the benefit of the bowlers, here, it ended up working in favour of the 34-year-old.

Prior to the change, clause 22.1 in the MCC Laws of Cricket stated, , "If the bowler bowls a ball, not a No ball, the umpire shall adjudge it a wide if, according to the definition in 22.1.2, the ball passes wide of where the striker is standing and which also would have passed wide of the striker standing in a normal guard position."

However, it was amended in March 2022 with the new clause coming into effect from October 1, 2022. “In the modern game, batters are, more than ever, moving laterally around the crease before the ball is bowled,” MCC said in a statement.

“It was felt unfair that a delivery might be called ‘Wide’ if it passes where the batter had stood as the bowler entered his/her delivery stride.”

“Therefore, Law 22.1 has been amended so that a Wide will apply to where the batter is standing, where the striker has stood at any point since the bowler began their run up, and which would also have passed wide of the striker in a normal batting position.”

In Kohli’s case as well, he did shuffle towards the stumps slightly when Nasum delivered the ball. Therefore, this movement may have deterred umpire Kettleborough from calling it a wide delivery.

Although it can definitely be debated whether Kohli’s movement was significant enough for the umpire to rule out the wide, as on repeated viewings the ball seemed to be missing the pads even if Kohli hadn't made the movement. It looked like a clear wide even taking into account the new addition to the ICC laws and the commentators on air also suggested the same.