T20 world champions India have become embroiled in a storm after appearing to persuade the umpire to overturn his wide call – which helped avoid a humiliating defeat against minnows Japan.The first-ever meeting between the nations was reduced by rain from a T20 to a five-over shootout, and the hosts restricted India to a score of 32 in Sano.Washington Sundar conceded seven runs and bagged one wicket in the penultimate over of Japan’s reply before Axar Patel took control for the final six balls. Needing only eight runs in the final over, hosts Japan were one hit away from producing the biggest upset in international cricket history.And with the hosts needed six runs from the final four balls, batter Alexander Shirai-Patmore attempted to reverse-sweep Axar, who spun his delivery down the leg side. Umpire Chris Thurgate called a wide but – baffled by the verdict – bowler Axar and wicketkeeper Sanju Samson voiced their displeasure towards the decision before Indian captain Shreyas Iyer stepped up and reached out to leg umpire Chris Brown. After a brief discussion between the umpires, Thurgate overturned the verdict – seemingly being persuaded that Shirai-Patmore changing his stance meant the ball should not have been considered a wide. Axar Patel’s delivery was adjudged a wide after spinning past right-handed batter Alexander Shirai-Patmore, who was attempting a reverse sweep Axar was surprised by the wide call by umpire Chris Thurgate… … and captain Shreyas Iyer took up the issue with umpire Chris Brown before the call was overturnedThe decision meant that Japan needed six runs from their final three deliveries, rather than a far more straightforward five runs from four.Axar then conceded just three more runs to secure a thrilling two-run win over Japan as India replaced England at the top of the T20 rankings. And although the correct decision appeared to have been made eventually, the Indian players were accused by fans online of ‘bullying the umpires’ as Japan were denied an extra run – and an extra delivery. Players challenging the verdict of umpires are frowned upon in cricket – and the final decision also arrived in a T20I where the Decision Review System (DRS) was not available.The final-over flourish sparked a huge debate as Iyer’s men were blamed for acting contrary to the ‘spirit of cricket’. ‘It doesn’t matter how good a team you are, because the opposition is also competitive, and the attitude and approach the Japanese team showed today was impeccable. Kudos to them,’ India skipper Iyer said after the match. WHAT DOES THE RULE SAY? Any delivery going down the leg side is often declared a wide in a white-ball game. However, as per ICC’s playing conditions, the batter will part ways with his or her privileges as soon as the player switches the position of his or her hands or feet. Such a change in position during batting is done to play a reverse sweep.According to the definition in the Laws of Cricket, a wide is given if ‘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’.The ‘spirit of cricket’ section features ‘accept the umpire’s decision’ as one of these points, but this is not one of the laws of the game.