India were praised by leading cricket officials for reprieving England century-maker Ian Bell during an extraordinary passage of play in the ongoing second Test at Trent Bridge.
India were praised by leading cricket officials for reprieving England century-maker Ian Bell during an extraordinary passage of play in the ongoing second Test at Trent Bridge.
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Bell, then on 137, was allowed to resume his innings after being run out off the last ball before tea on Sunday's third day.
Eoin Morgan flicked the final ball of the session to fine leg and the batsmen ran three before thinking it had gone for four and so was 'dead'.
Bell, who had made a superb 137, then left his ground to walk off to the pavilion for tea.
The ball was returned, however, without touching the ropes by Praveen Kumar and Abhinav Mukund took off the bails.
The appeal was referred to the third umpire with Billy Bowden ruling Bell was out.
Bell was bemused by the decision and claimed the umpires had called "Over" which would have meant he was not out.
England coach Andy Flower and captain Andrew Strauss went to the visitors' dressing room at tea to ask India, whose coach is ex-England supremo Duncan Fletcher, if they wanted the appeal to stand.
And minutes later Indian captain Mahendra Singh Dhoni withdrew their appeal.
"Morgan hit the ball off his legs and the way the fielder reacted we thought it went for four. I turned round and put my bat down and I was walking off for tea. The umpire took out a jumper and was walking over to the bowler and it looked like we were heading for tea," said Bell.
"We were shocked at what was going on. But the spirit of the game has been kept. The captains and coaches met and at the last minute I knew I was going out to bat again."
India star Rahul Dravid said it had been a team decision to withdraw their appeal for Bell's wicket.
"Under the rules he was out, but there was not a nice feeling in the dressing room. There was a bitter feeling in the stomach," said Dravid.
"There was a discussion in the dressing room and we knew it was not in the spirit of the game. There was unanimity that we should reinstate Ian. The team was led beautifully by Dhoni.
"We all discussed it and we were all behind the decision. We always try to play the game in the right spirit."
Technically, the decision had come too late as Cricket's Law 27.8 (withdrawal of an appeal) states that a captain wanting to withdraw an appeal "must do so before the outgoing batsman has left the field of play".
International Cricket Council (ICC) chief executive Haroon Lorgat was delighted by the way in which the situation was resolved.
"Absolute credit must go to Team India, the England team and the match officials -- (match referee) Ranjan Madugalle, (on-field umpires) Asad Rauf and Marais Erasmus, as well as the off-field umpires Billy Bowden and Tim Robinson -- for the superb way that they all handled a tricky situation," Lorgat said.
"While the initial appeal and umpire decision may have been acceptable to the letter of the law, the decision by India captain MS Dhoni and his team -- as well as the Team India coaching staff -- to withdraw the appeal shows great maturity," the South African added.
"To see players and officials uphold the great spirit of cricket, which has underpinned the game for more than a century, is very special.
"I am indeed grateful for the way that the teams and match officials handled what was clearly a difficult situation and their behaviour reflects well on everyone."
The Indians were booed off the field and back on again after the interval. However, those jeers turned to cheers when the crowd saw Bell coming out to resume his innings.
Bell was eventually out for 159 caught at slip by Venkatsai Laxman off left-arm spinner Yuvraj Singh.
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