Shreyas Iyer and Axar Patel fight with umpire (Source: ScreenGrab)On Tuesday, September 22, India and Japan locked horns for the one-off T20I match at the Sano International Ground. A wet outfield resulted in a long delay, and both teams settled for a five-over match in the end.Contrary to expectations, Japan put on a brilliant show and nearly pulled off the greatest upset in modern-day cricket. It was a low-scoring affair, but marred with controversy involving Axar Patel and India captain Shreyas Iyer.India Beat Japan By Just 2 RunsIndia won the toss and opted to bat first. The Men in Blue lost a wicket in the 1st over as Abhishek Sharma returned to the dressing room for a golden duck. Japan picked up a wicket in the first three overs and didn’t let the Indian top-order settle.After 5 overs, the Shreyas Iyer-led side managed to put just 32 runs on the board. In reply, Japan lost two early wickets. However, their skipper Kadowaki Fleming played a sensible knock of 12 (12), and the hosts required 8 runs to win off the last over.Axar Patel bowled the final over and defended 8 runs to help India clinch a 2 run-win. However, the last over was marred by a controversy over a wide delivery that has now divided the internet.Axar Patel, Shreyas Iyer Argue With Umpire Over WideAs mentioned above, Axar Patel bowled the 5th over of the match. The controversy occurred on the 4th ball of the last over when Japan required 6 runs to win over four balls. On the 3rd ball, Axar bowled a delivery targeting southpaw’s pads, but the ball turned heavily and drifted leg-side.The batter attempted a reverse-sweep, but the ball was way down the leg-side that umpire raised his arms to signal a wide. The India all-rounder was unhappy with the decision and argued with the official.Also Read: Who Is Charlie Hinze, Japan’s 17-Year-Old Sensation Who Got Abhishek Sharma, Shreyas Iyer Out?Axar signalled to the umpire that the batter switched sides and now leg-side should be treated as the off-side as well. Shreyas Iyer too jumped into the conversation and explained the same case to the leg-umpire.Watch the video below:Sa. Gomesh | ச. கோமேஷ் @SaGomesh So glad to hear @DGBeswick1 in the middle of it all! Man of the moment. 💫 Sep 22, 2026, 1:52 PM Eventually, the two officials had a chat among themselves and reversed the decision. It created a lot of stir, and the fans quickly debated over whether the call was right. ICC Rules Regarding the Wide CallThe reason why the internet is divided is that a section argues that the wide call should have been retained because the rule that treats both sides as off-side is when the batter opts for a switch-hit and not a reverse sweep against India.The other section argued that the umpire was right to revoke the wide-call because the ICC rule for the same applies to both switch-hit and reverse sweep. Therefore, this article will shed light on the ICC rule regarding the same.Wide is described in Law 22 of MCC rule-book. The issue here is that there is no mention of switch-hit or reverse-sweep in the wide-section which has caused this debate to happen. MCC Law: 22.1.1: If the bowler bowls a ball, not being a No ball, the umpire shall adjudge it a Wide if, according to the definition in 22.1.2, the ball passes wide of where the striker is standing or has stood at any point after the ball came into play for that delivery, and which also would have passed wide of the striker standing in a normal batting position.Also Read: Mark Wood Announces Retirement From International Cricket
