![\"Japan's](\"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/09\/AP26265268750432-1790075649.jpg\")
Japan\u2019s players celebrate the wicket of Abhishek Sharma [Tomohiro Ohsumi\/AP Photo]What was the wide controversy in the last over?<\/p>\nIt was the thinnest of margins, and a wide controversy.<\/p>\n
Cricket world champions India are being accused of bullying the umpires in a Twenty20 match against minnows Japan, who came very close to scripting a major upset but fell short by two runs in a one-off encounter before the Asian Games.<\/p>\n
Set a modest target of 33 by the three-time T20 world champions in a rain-curtailed match, Japan ended their innings on 30-3, handing India a two-run win at the Sano International Cricket Ground on Tuesday.<\/p>\n
However, the match took a controversial turn in the final over as the hosts inched closer to the target.<\/p>\n
What happened in the India vs Japan match?<\/p>\n
India\u2019s captain Shreyas Iyer won the toss after rain shortened the match to five overs per side. In T20 cricket, each innings is normally 20 overs long.<\/p>\n
Japan made a dream start when Charlie Hara-Hinze had star Indian opener Abhishek Sharma caught in the first over. He then dismissed Ishan Kishan with the second ball of his second over to give the hosts hope of restricting India to a low total.<\/p>\n
Iyer\u2019s 12-ball 16 resurrected India\u2019s innings as they finished on 32-4.<\/p>\n
The hosts began their run chase on the slow and low-scoring wicket with caution. Slow left-arm bowler Axar Patel opened for India and dismissed Lachlan Yamamoto-Lake off his fourth delivery.<\/p>\n
Japan needed 31 runs off the remaining four overs but lost another wicket while scoring six runs in the second, bowled by off-spinner Washington Sundar.<\/p>\n
India continued bowling spin and conceded 17 runs in the next two overs but dismissed Japan\u2019s captain Kendel Kadowaki-Fleming for 12 runs.<\/p>\n
When Patel returned to bowl the final over, the hosts needed eight runs off it with seven wickets in hand. Following a dot ball and a single, Patel bowled a wide.<\/p>\n
This left Alexander Shirai-Patmore on strike with Japan requiring six runs to win off four balls, and that is when the controversial moment arrived.<\/p>\n
Japan\u2019s players celebrate the wicket of Abhishek Sharma [Tomohiro Ohsumi\/AP Photo]What was the wide controversy in the last over?<\/p>\n
Patel\u2019s next delivery was also signalled as a wide by the umpire. The batter attempted a reverse-sweep shot, but the ball was still out of his arc, so the wide was called.<\/p>\n
However, India\u2019s captain Iyer and Patel were furious with the call and remonstrated with the umpires. After a brief consultation, the umpires revoked the wide, denying the home side a run and an extra ball.<\/p>\n
Japan scored three singles off the last three balls, leaving them two runs short of India\u2019s total. Had the umpires not overturned the wide, Japan would have come closer to what would have been one of the biggest upsets in the history of international cricket.<\/p>\n
Why are India being accused of bullying?<\/p>\n
When umpires\u2019 decisions are reviewed \u2013 either through a Decision Review System (DRS) call by the players or an umpire review when the on-field officials are unsure about a call \u2013 the ball in question is usually replayed on the screen and the TV umpire\u2019s review is audible on broadcast and inside the stadium.<\/p>\n
However, in this instance, the umpires did not call for a review and simply overturned the decision on the field, without offering an explanation.<\/p>\n
Traditionally, players quarrelling with umpires publicly has also been frowned upon in the sport.<\/p>\n
But the Indian captain and bowler showed no such restraint. Subsequently, the umpire overturned his decision without seeing any evidence that suggested he had been wrong in calling a wide.<\/p>\n
Cricket journalists, experts and fans from across the world were quick to criticise the umpires.<\/p>\n
Ben Gardner, cricket writer at Wisden magazine, termed it a disgraceful decision.<\/p>\n
\u201cWith five off four needed for the biggest upset in cricket history, India have just bullied the umpires into overturning a wide call against Japan,\u201d he wrote on X.<\/p>\n
Others, like social media user Abu Zaid Sarooji, were even more blunt.<\/p>\n
\u201cJapan were robbed here,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n
Even Indian cricket team supporters highlighted the controversy, saying it was clear that the batter did not change his stance before the ball was bowled and hence did not attempt to trick Patel.<\/p>\n
What do the laws of cricket say about revoking a wide?<\/p>\n
According to law number 22.3, which pertains to the revoking of a wide ball call in the Marylebone Cricket Club\u2019s Laws of Cricket, an umpire can revoke a wide ball if:<\/p>\n
There is then any contact between the ball and the striker\u2019s bat or person before the ball comes into contact with any fielder.
\nA delivery is called a no ball.<\/p>\n
However, neither of the above was applicable in this case.<\/p>\n
Who were the match umpires?<\/p>\n
The on-field umpires were Chris Brown of New Zealand and Chris Thurgate of Japan. Thurgate was the umpire at the bowler\u2019s end and made the initial call to declare the ball a wide. After Iyer and Patel protested, Thurgate and Brown consulted with each other, before the decision was reversed.<\/p>\n
![\"India's](\"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/09\/AP26265266368742-1790075717.jpg\")
Sanju Samson bats against Japan [Tomohiro Ohsumi\/AP Photo]Did the captains talk about the incident after the match?<\/p>\n
Neither captain broached the topic, but the Japanese players looked gloomy and disappointed as they walked back after the match.<\/p>\n
\u201cHonestly speaking, it was a very difficult wicket to bat on,\u201d Iyer said. \u201cA five-over game, \u200c\u200cit can go anywhere. It doesn\u2019t matter how good a team you are.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cThe attitude and approach the Japanese team showed today was impeccable, and kudos to them. Their approach was outstanding. I\u2019m sure that they are on the right track.\u201d<\/p>\n
Why did Japan host a T20 match against India?<\/p>\n
According to reports, the match was a result of diplomatic manoeuvring, corporate sponsorship and years of quiet groundwork by the Japan Cricket Association (JCA), which has been helping the sport \u2060\u2060take root in the country.<\/p>\n
The JCA pulled off a major coup when it persuaded India to play the home side, the Reuters news agency said earlier this month.<\/p>\n
The JCA had been working for more than a year to persuade its Indian counterpart, the BCCI, to play a T20 International in Sano. Those efforts gained momentum in recent months when the Japanese government \u2060\u2060got involved.<\/p>\n
\u201cOne match or competition itself won\u2019t change anything, and we are certainly not going to think that suddenly it\u2019s going to be as popular as baseball or football in Japan,\u201d JCA chief executive \u200c\u200cNaoki Alex Miyaji told Reuters.<\/p>\n
\u201cBut the match against India is the first page of a new era.\u201d<\/p>\n
Kadowaki-Fleming said he was extremely proud of his team\u2019s \u200c\u200cperformance against such formidable opposition.<\/p>\n
\u201cEmotions are running pretty high in our group. But the fact that we\u2019re able to run the best team in the world, in my opinion, to the last ball of \u200c\u200ca \u200c\u200cgame is pretty special,\u201d he said. \u201cI think today was a really momentous occasion in that it was the first time we were able to face a full member.\u201d<\/p>\n
Was this Japan\u2019s most high-profile cricket match?<\/p>\n
It was the first time that Japan, an associate member of the International Cricket Council (ICC), faced a full member and that too a top T20 side.<\/p>\n
Japan are 41st in the ICC T20 men\u2019s rankings, while the women\u2019s team is ranked 39th.<\/p>\n
Japan has only 7,300 registered players and 16 cricket grounds.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"It was the thinnest of margins, and a wide controversy. Cricket world champions India are being accused of…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":779077,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[34],"tags":[1487,1296,1721,308,386,217,101,56,54,55],"class_list":["post-779076","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-cricket","tag-asia","tag-asia-pacific","tag-cricket","tag-india","tag-japan","tag-sport","tag-sports","tag-uk","tag-united-kingdom","tag-unitedkingdom"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/779076","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=779076"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/779076\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/779077"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=779076"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=779076"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=779076"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}