Watch: Ishan Kishan draws flak for fake appeal against Tom Latham in India vs New Zealand 1st ODI, irks Gavaskar
Ishan Kishan may have seen the funny side of his cheeky attempt to troll Tom Latham during the 1st ODI between India and New Zealand, but his act did not go down well with Sunil Gavaskar.
Ishan Kishan may have seen the funny side of his cheeky attempt to troll Tom Latham during the 1st ODI between India and New Zealand, but his act did not go down well with Sunil Gavaskar and Murali Karthik as both former cricketers did not entertain the young wicketkeeper's tactics. The incident took place in the 16th over when Ishan opted to have some fun, trying to trick Latham into believing that perhaps the New Zealand was out hit wickets as the red light flickered, but the replay showed that it was Ishan who had had whipped off the bails.

Had it ended then and there, it wouldn't have mattered but the fact that Ishan appealed and the square leg umpire went upstairs is what left Gavaskar and Kartik miffed. As Kuldeep came over the wicket and Latham tucked the ball to short mid-wicket where Rohit Sharma collected it, the Indians went up in a huge appeal. Rohit raised his arms in appeal, while Kuldeep looked excited too. The camera then panned towards Latham who was confused, whereas Ishan looked up towards the square leg umpire hoping he will ask the official upstairs. Even the New Zealand dugout looked puzzled.
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That is when the replay offered the entire picture. Ishan had simply taken the bails off with his gloves, well after Latham had played the ball. The New Zealand captain was even inside this crease which takes away a stumping attempt as well. All Ishan wanted to do was have some fun but Gavaskar and Kartik were not in favour of it. "You can appeal all you want, but that is not the right thing," a visibly upset Kartik said on air.
Gavaskar was more vocal about his feelings among the two and pointed out that had it been a joke directed at Latham, Ishan's shenanigans would have been justified, but going a step further and making the umpire believe that there was actually something more to it was a big no. "As a joke, it was ok. But then to go and appeal, don't think that is the right thing to do. As a joke to maybe say or suggest to Tom Latham that what had happened earlier on when India were batting... that is understandable. But not to appeal. That is not on. That is not cricket," said the legendary former India captain.
Ishan's decision to prank Latham could well stem from what had happened earlier in the match. When India were batting, Latham was at the centre of one of the most bizarre dismissals ever seen. Daryl Mitchell got Hardik Pandya's wicket and while the scorecard will always show the India all-rounder getting bowled by his New Zealand counterpart, it couldn't be further from the truth. In reality, the ball went whistling over the stumps into Latham's glove but due to some reason, the bail light up and got dislodged after it without Latham coming in contact with the stumps. Even though the umpire declared Hardik out, fans expressed their displeasure calling it a 'bad' and 'poor' decision.
This was Ishan's first ODI since he blasted a record 210 against Bangladesh last year. Despite scoring a double century, Ishan was left out of the ODIs against Sri Lanka with captain Rohit Sharma making it clear that Shubman Gill will open for India alongside him. But after Shreyas Iyer was injured ruled out with a back injury and KL Rahul not playing the series due to personal reasons, the path opened up for Ishan. He however endured a difficult outing scoring 5 off 14 balls.