By News18
England鈥檚 pundits and fans have come after Akash Deep, claiming that the India pacer鈥檚 dismissal of Joe Root was 鈥榠llegal,鈥 suggesting it violated cricket rules.
Controversy erupted even in the commentary box!
Former England cricketer Alison Mitchell, while commenting on BBC TMS, was quoted as saying: 鈥淭he delivery from Akash Deep 鈥 which we said was wide off the crease 鈥 his foot on the back crease is out. Looks like by about two inches. Maybe a little bit more. But comfortably. So his back foot, which needs to land within the line, just taps about two inches over the line. Not picked up!鈥
Akash鈥檚 foot was inside the popping crease, but he was accused of touching the return crease with his back foot. Consequently, some fans were upset with the officials for not catching this incident.
Former India coach Ravi Shastri, who was also commentating, suggested that since Akash鈥檚 foot landed inside the return crease, the delivery was fair.
???????????????? ???????????????????? ???????? ???????????????? 馃ザ#AkashDeep uproots #JoeRoot with a searing in-swinger, his second wicket puts England firmly on the back foot 馃ぉ#ENGvIND ? 2nd TEST, Day 4 | LIVE NOW on JioHotstar 鉃 https://t.co/2wT1UwEcdi pic.twitter.com/avu1sqRrcG
鈥 Star Sports (@StarSportsIndia) July 5, 2025
What Rules Say About Back Foot No Ball?
There are two types of creases on a cricket field. The popping crease, which runs perpendicular to the pitch, marks the bowler鈥檚 front foot position. The return creases run parallel to the pitch on either side of the stumps.
According to MCC Law 21.5.1:
For a delivery to be fair in respect of the feet, in the delivery stride
(21.5.1) the bowler鈥檚 back foot must land within and not touching the return crease appertaining to his/her stated mode of delivery.
(21.5.2) the bowler鈥檚 front foot must land with some part of the foot, whether grounded or raised
鈥 on the same side of the imaginary line joining the two middle stumps as the return crease described in 21.5.1, and,
鈥 behind the popping crease.
Why Is There Controversy?
The confusion arises from how these creases are judged. For the popping crease, a delivery is deemed fair if any part of the front foot is behind the crease. Regarding the return crease, a no-ball should be called if the back foot makes any contact with it.
Although the on-field umpire can monitor front-foot no-balls, judging back-foot no-balls is more challenging because they often occur behind or beside the umpire鈥檚 position. Hence, the third umpire checks these infractions. Unfortunately for Root and England, this was overlooked on Day 4.