Axar Patel- Shreyas Iyer Bullying Umpire: Captain Shreyas Iyer and all-rounder Akshar Patel came into controversy in the T20 match of the Asian Games 2026 played between India and Japan. In this match played at Sano International Cricket Ground in Kanto on Tuesday 22 September, the match was reduced to only 5-5 overs due to rain. Batting first, the Indian team could score only 32 runs. After this, Japan increased India’s worries by chasing a small target.

Japan needed 6 runs to win in the last four balls. Meanwhile, Akshar Patel bowled the ball to Alexander Shirai-Patmore on the leg side. The batsman tried to play a reverse sweep, but the ball did not hit the bat. Then the umpire gave it wide. Akshar did not seem happy with this decision and talked to the umpire. After this, captain Shreyas Iyer also reached both the umpires and talked to them near the field.

Wide call changed, equation changed on last three balls

After discussion the umpire changed his decision of wide. With this, Japan now had to score 6 runs in 3 balls instead of 6 runs in 4 balls. However, Japan could not take advantage of this opportunity and India won the match by just 2 runs. After this decision, Indian players were heavily criticized on social media. Many fans and people associated with cricket raised questions as to why the umpire changed his decision.

What do the rules of cricket say?

Many users alleged that Indian players put pressure on the umpire to change the decision. Some people even called this incident shameful. However, it is not easy to decide wide in shots like reverse sweep or switch hit. Looking at the batsman’s movement, the umpire has to decide whether the ball was out of reach for normal batting or not. According to the rules of cricket, if the umpire feels that he has given a decision by mistake, he can change his decision before the ball becomes dead.