The incident happened in the 20th over of England’s innings, bowled by Mayank Khandwala, with Temoor batting on 30. Trying to sweep the left-arm spinner on the first ball, Temoor was struck on the pads, and was immediately adjudged LBW. But he refused to walk, claiming he had got bat on ball, which left the umpires and the Indian players surprised.
There was a big delay in proceedings, with the two on-field umpires discussing the matter even as the Indian players surrounded them, wondering why the batter wasn't walking back to the pavilion. "Off you go sir, you may not agree with it," said the commentator, before adding "you cannot do that".
Eventually, players left the field for a brief period, with the commentator suggesting that England skipper Edward Lennox seemingly got hold of a phone off the field to go back on the stream and verify if his batting partner had actually managed to get bat on ball. India's Viren Patel was also rightly stopped from watching the replay of the incident mid-game.
The commentators later stated that the square leg umpire suggested that the ball had hit the bat, and after more than 15 minutes of chaos and confusion, the decision was controversially reversed before play resumed. "Regardless of what's happened after that, it's an absolute discgrace," the commentator added.
Temoor added 10 more runs to his total before Khandwala bowled him in the 24th over, and gave a fiery send-off, gesturing to him to return to the dugout. England eventually posted 167 runs for the loss of seven wickets in their 45 overs, with Temoor top-scoring with a 60-ball 40. In response, India were bundled out for 159 runs in 42 overs, losing by eight runs.
With the controversy boiling over, the England Over 60s cricket board put out a statement on Wednesday, August 19, two days after the match, stating that an investigation has been launched into the incident, but that the video stream only showed a 'narrow perspective'.
“Many are aware of the incident that took place between England and India on Monday at the Over 60s World Cup," the statement read. "The video stream - and commentary - showed a narrow perspective of the incident, meaning important moments were not seen.
“As you would expect, the incident is being fully investigated, and England Cricket Seniors will publish a full explanation as soon as possible. In the meantime, please accept that there were many things at play at the time, and so please avoid jumping to conclusions without the full facts. Thank you.”
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Many are aware of the incident that took place between England and India on Monday at the Over 60s World Cup. The video stream - and commentary - showed a narrow perspective of the incident, meaning important moments were not seen.#seniorscricket pic.twitter.com/fIgXtQ8UQM
Image Credit: Council of Canada Masters Cricket/YouTube
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