‘Bullied the umpires’: India torched over ‘disgraceful’ act in dramatic escape… against Japan
Umpire controversy denies Japan upset | 00:50
Josh Higgins With AFP from Fox SportsSeptember 23rd, 2026 8:24 am
India have been accused of ‘bullying’ after a controversial decision to overturn a wide in the final over saw them defeat Japan in a men’s T20 international on Tuesday.
The World champions narrowly survived being on the end of a huge upset as they edged a spirited Japan by two runs in a rain-shortened first-ever T20 international between the teams on Tuesday.
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The historic match celebrating 75 years of diplomatic relations took place at Japan’s modest Sano International Cricket Ground outside Tokyo.
It was Japan’s first T20 game against a full-member nation.
India, who retained their T20 World Cup crown at home earlier this year, opted to bat first after rain and wet outfield delayed the start and forced a five-overs-a-side shootout.
India, captained by Shreyas Iyer, struggled to score on a sluggish pitch as they made 32-4.
Japan — ranked 41st by the International Cricket Council (ICC) — pushed their more illustrious opponents all the way as they threatened a massive shock.
They were in the game until the last ball but finished on 30-3, falling agonisingly just short.
But this is where the controversy began.
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At 3/27, India’s Axar Patel bowled a delivery down the leg side of Japan’s Alexander Shirai-Patmore.
Shirai-Patmore attempted to reverse sweep the delivery, but the ball went through to the keeper, with the umpire initially calling a wide.
That took the score to 3/28 and meant Axar would have to bowl the delivery again, before the Indian players stood their ground and gathered around the umpires as Axar protested the decision and captain Iyer spoke to the officials.
A few moments later, the decision was sensationally overturned, with the delivery called a dead ball and the score returned to 3/27 with three deliveries remaining instead of four.
Japan would ultimately fall short in the close contest, but the controversial scenes in the final over sparked plenty of discussion around the cricket world.
Wisden editor Ben Gardner was among those to criticise the decision, taking to X after the match.
“With five off four needed for the biggest upset in cricket history, India have just bullied the umpires into overturning a wide call against Japan,” Gardner wrote on X.
Kartik Kannan also weighed in on the controversy, arguing the original wide call was incorrect but criticising India’s reaction to the decision.
“What’s the point of being a cricket power if you can’t use dissent to get your way,” Kannan wrote on X.
“I think India was unsporting in not respecting a decision, which they might have accepted if the stakes weren’t so high in the final over.
“The reason for using it seems fine. It really was not a wide and finally the correct decision was taken, but the Indian team brought out their bully mode to make sure they weren’t going to lose on account of a wrong decision.
“You could do that here vs Japan, imagine doing it vs a proper cricket playing nation.
“It’s an interesting point to talk on.”
Code Sports Chief Cricket Writer Daniel Cherny also took to X to discuss the decision, focusing on the precedent created by overturning the original call.
“It’s almost immaterial whether it was a wide or not,” Cherny wrote on X.
“The game falls apart if an umpire’s decision can be overturned following aggressive gesticulation from a player.”
“Yeah, extremely proud, as I think I’ve been saying to a few other guys, that when it gets that close, it’s actually a little bit tougher to take, and the emotions are running pretty high in our group,” Japan skipper Kendel Kadowaki-Fleming said.
“But the fact that we were able to run the best team in the world, in my opinion, to the last ball of a game is pretty special.” Japan’s 17-year-old spinner Charlie Hara-Hinze stood out with figures of 2-17 in his two overs after he opened the attack and sent back opener Abhishek Sharma for a golden duck.
Kadowaki-Fleming attempted to pull off the chase in his run-a-ball 12, but India’s experienced spinners saved the heavyweights from embarrassment.
“It doesn’t matter how good a team you are, because the oppositions are also competitive, and the attitude and approach the Japanese team showed today was impeccable, and kudos to them,” India skipper Iyer said.
“The approach was outstanding.
“So, I’m sure that they are on the right track right now.”
The build-up to what should have been a mismatch was affected by Typhoon Dujuan, with heavy rain in Sano forcing training to be cancelled on Monday.
The venue, which is also used for baseball and has a capacity of around 2,000 spectators, was dominated by India fans who had been expecting a rout.
Japan will play the opening match of men’s T20 cricket at the Aichi-Nagoya <a href="https://cricket.international/its-a-surreal-feeling-amol-muzumdar-opens-up-after-indias-asian-games-gold-eyes-la-olympics/" title="‘It’s a Surreal Feeling’: Amol Muzumdar Opens Up After India’s Asian Games Gold, Eyes LA Olympics”>Asian Games against Afghanistan on Thursday at a converted baseball field.
Source: www.foxsports.com.au
