EXPLAINED: The MCC rule behind Phoebe Litchfield’s LBW controversy

The ongoing Womenrsquos T20 World Cup 2024 was on Sunday marred by controversy stemming from a Decision Review System DRS incident that occurred during Indias final group stage match against AustraliaAustraliarsquos Phoebe Litchfield attempted a reverse sweep against Indiarsquos Deepti Sharma in the 17th over of the Womenrsquos T20 World Cup 2024 league match Initially she was adjudged LBW after failing to connect with the ball However she opted to review the onfield decision which ultimately granted her a reprieve The third umpire determined that the ball had pitched outside the line of leg stump prompting a reversal of the original callLaw 3612 of the Marylebone Cricket Club MCC regulations state that a batter can only be given out leg before wicket if the ball when not intercepted fullpitch either pitches in line with the wickets or on the off side of the strikers wicket This rule plays a critical role in adjudicating LBW decisions and aims to maintain fairness in gameplayGiven out LBW Phoebe Litchfield takes the review No bat or glove Pitching outside the leg stump and Phoebe Litchfield survives Smriti tells umpire Sue Redfern that Phoebe Litchfield was turning around as a right handerINDvsAUS INDvBAN INDvAUS pictwittercomeGbvEZNC4jmdash A amp K badjocker1020 October 13 2024Someone please tell me why Litchfields wicket declared as not out Because Lichfield was fully reversed when she was batting so practically that was an out RightAusvsInd INDvsAUS WT20I Deeptisharmamdash Niwa S Anneliese niwa_anneliese October 13 2024How dumb are these rules amp how dumb are the umpires Whatrsquos the use of technology when logics exits the scene Phoebe Litchfield herself was walking off Dumb fuck umpiresmdash Shrutika Gaekwad Shrustappen33 October 13 2024Just like the legside wide goes out of the equation once the batter plays the switchhit should do away with where the ball pitches Its not really outside leg if you look at that Litchfield reviewmdash Saurabh Malhotra MalhotraSaurabh October 13 2024When the left handed batter changes the stance to play the reverse sweepswitch hit and gets hit on the pads laws should consider the batter as right handed batter Guess Litchfield shouldve been lbw v Deepti Your thoughtsmdash Sarang Bhalerao bhaleraosarang October 13 2024Following the controversial decision Indian players including vicecaptain Smriti Mandhana expressed their discontent with the umpirersquos ruling arguing that the ball pitching outside leg stump should be considered irrelevant as Litchfield had switched her stance in an attempt to execute a reverse sweep However the definitions of the off and on sides remain unchanged regardless of the batters stance when attempting such shots Thus the original judgment on the balls trajectory was upheld based on established rulesAlso ReadInjury concerns as Aus captain Healy shows up on crutches for India fixtureThe International Cricket Council ICC had previously considered potential amendments to this particular rule acknowledging the complexities that arise in modern cricket with the advent of innovative batting techniques However no alterations have been implemented leaving the existing laws intactMeanwhile opting to bat Australia were restricted to 151 for 8 with opener Grace Harris topscoring with 40 off 41 balls Standin captain Tahlia McGrath and Ellyse Perry chipped in with 32 eachFor India Renuka Singh and Deepti Sharma took two wickets apiece while Pooja Vastrakar Radha Yadav and Shreyanka Patil got one eachIndia made one change bringing back seamer Pooja Vastrakar in place of Sajeevan Sajana while Australia made two changes with Grace Harris and Darcie Brown coming back