Melbourne, Oct 23 (IANS): In a bizarre incident, a shot from Pakistan batter Shan Masood hit the spider-cam cable and robbed India of a wicket during their Super 12 match of the Men's T20 World Cup 2022 at Melbourne Cricket Ground, here on Sunday.
The incident happened during the 15th over of the Pakistan innings when Masood stepped out of his crease looking to attack Ravichandran Ashwin, but he was beaten in the air and the ball got a thick top edge.
Virat Kohli ran in from the deep but had to stop as the ball clanged on the cable and dropped down straight. Hardik Pandya was also positioning himself to take the catch but the ball swirled off the edge over the covers.
As the spider-cam cable cut down a plausible catch chance for India to dismiss Masood, things turned pretty heated up during the game. Hardik was miffed with the incident and screamed, while Indian captain Rohit Sharma too had an expletive escape his lips.
Rohit had a long argument with the umpire over the same and suggested the spider camera be moved further away. The umpire signalled a dead ball and also asked for the spider-cam to be taken away from around the playing area before the next delivery.
Masood was on the 31 when he got the lifeline and he eventually finished on 52 off 42, taking Pakistan to 159/8 in 20 overs. However, it was enough in the end, as a Kohli master-class and sensible batting by Pandya helped India cross the victory line at the iconic Melbourne Cricket Ground.