India began their campaign in the 2024 Women’s T20 World Cup on a disappointing note, suffering a 58-run defeat to New Zealand in Dubai. The Blackcaps set a formidable total of 160/4, highlighted by an unbeaten 57 from captain Sophie Devine. In response, the Indian team was bowled out for 102, with Rosemary Mair taking four wickets.
A significant controversy emerged during the match when Amelia Kerr was declared not out following a run-out appeal, leading Indian skipper Harmanpreet Kaur to engage in a heated discussion with the umpires. The incident occurred on the final delivery of the 14th over. Kerr played the ball to long-off and initially ran a single. Believing the ball was dead, Harmanpreet relaxed, but Kerr attempted a second run and was run out before completing it. However, the umpire had already returned Deepti Sharma’s cap and signaled the end of the over by that time.
Despite India’s appeal and Kerr momentarily walking back to the dugout, the umpires ruled the ball was dead, rendering the run-out invalid. The decision sparked widespread attention and raised questions about the interpretation of the rules.
Veteran Indian all-rounder Ravichandran Ashwin expressed his concerns on social media platform X (formerly Twitter) but later deleted his post. He wrote, “The over was called before the start of the second run. Whose fault is this really? @prithinarayanan,” before removing the comment.
