The debate around Virat Kohli's dismissal to a high full toss against Kolkata Knight Riders in Royal Challengers Bengaluru's one run loss on Sunday refuses die down as opinions of former cricketers continue to pour in. (Full Coverage)
Former India player Mohammad Kaif has now joined the debate and added an interesting angle to it.
In a post on social media platform X, Kaif reckoned that the ball to which Kohli got out on Sunday was a "clear unplayable beamer".
He not only expressed his disapproval of Kohli's wicket but also questioned the umpiring standards in the tournament by showing how a wide was not given against MS Dhoni in one of the matches.
"Clear unplayable beamer gets Kohli out and a ball that passed under Dhoni's bat declared wide. Cameras, replays, technology but still such mistakes being made," Kaif wrote on X.
"Poor umpiring," Kaif added.
Earlier, another star Indian ex-cricket Navjot Singh Sidhu had sided with Kohli and termed the decision as "legalising beamer".
"Look at the point of contact where he is standing, when a bowler delivers a beamer, they apologise. The point of contact with the bat is 1.5 ft above the line, this rule has to change. That decision changed the whole game," Sidhu said on Star Sports while commentating on the game.
Former India all-rounder Irfan Pathan was of the view that the ball was a legal delivery and Kohli was given out correctly.
As the rule stands now it states that for a delivery to be considered a no ball, the ball must be at waist height as it crosses the stepping crease.
Since Kohli was standing outside the crease, the point where he made the contact with the ball did not matter. What mattered was where the ball would have ended up if Kohli was standing upright at the stepping crease.
As per the replays shown on air using the new ball tracking technology, the ball would have passed at 0.92 metres at the popping crease while Kohli's upright waist was measured at 1.04 metres.
So the ball was declared a legal delivery and the star RCB batter was adjudged out.
