T20 World Cup 2022: New terms: scoop shot, fake fielding, and waist-high no balls

However, the tournament has also brought a few old terms back into the cricketing lexicon of fans. Here we look at three words that have done the rounds during this tournament. 

Scoop shot – This one is courtesy of India’s middle-order magician Suryakumar Yadav. The scoop shot was popularized about a decade ago by a certain Tillakaratne Dilshan, the maverick Sri Lankan all-rounder who blossomed as a T20 specialist, especially in the IPL. 

However, the man nicknamed SKY has made the term even more popular thanks to his ridiculous array of shots. Where Tillakaratne Dilshan once picked his moments to unleash the scoop, Suryakumar Yadav chooses to do it regularly. 

His ability to bend down and scoop shots – sometimes to the boundary – makes him a top prospect for being one of the best proponents of white-ball cricket in recent times. And the Indian fans will no doubt hope he can continue to scoop the team to World Cup glory. 

Fake fielding – Cricket’s rather complex rulebook means that some of the more random rule breaks can go unnoticed until someone decides to bust out a move that is quite illegal. This was precisely the case with the term ‘fake fielding’. 

The term came to light after Virat Kohli faked throwing the ball towards the stumps during India’s thrilling win over Bangladesh. The incident only came to light after the match, which is just as well – the infringement, if spotted by the on-field umpires, could have cost India five penalty runs. 

Luckily, the incident went unnoticed by the umpires – which is again lucky because this isn’t a rule break that can see retroactive punishment, neither can the third and fourth umpires intervene to decide this; it’s all on the on-field umpire, which was a blessing for the Indian team. 

Waist high no balls – This one is relatively more common, as it is well known that a full toss will be called a no ball if the ball reaches the batsman and is found to be above waist height by the umpires. 

However, it has become a source of contention among certain fans – again during India VS Bangladesh match and due to Virat Kohli. This is because Virat Kohli thought one ball was over waist height and signalled to the umpire to call it a no-ball – which he did. 

Unfortunately, replays suggested that the ball was not above the waist, and it wasn’t the first time Virat Kohli was involved in a similar controversy. He did something similar during India’s match against Pakistan when Mohammad Nawaz was bowling, and again, the call was retroactively proved wrong. 

Perhaps umpires would be wise not to take Virat Kohli’s counsel on such matters to avoid any more such controversies.