Ian Bishop: Law needs changing but don't criticise West Indies U19s
South African opener Jiveshan Pillay was controversially given out obstructing the field against West Indies.
Jiveshen Pillay given out for obstruction
The South Africa was given out for obstructing the field.
South Africa head coach Lawrence Mahatlane has said his side have no issue with the decision.
Interview: Lawrence Mahatlane speaks after an eventful innings
ICC U19 Cricket World Cup commentator Ian Bishop, however, felt that the law itself needed looking at.
"I would advise the law itself needs to be looked at in the case where it is just a friendly way of throwing the ball back," he told fans on a Facebook Live.
"I understand there are some people on the other side saying leave the ball, let the fielders pick the ball up. I saw this in the India South Africa Test match the other night where Hardik Pandya threw the ball back to one of the South Africans and nothing happened. Sunil Gavaskar was on television and he said the only thing he doesn't like about it is he wants the bowler to bend over and strain a ligament in his back in picking the ball up!"
The former West Indian fast bowler is of the opinion that this situation is different to one seen in the 2016 ICC Under 19 Cricket World Cup, when West Indies sealed a victory over Zimbabwe and passage to the quarter-finals with a controversial 'Mankad'.
"The batsman was not trying to gain an advantage in doing anything, which is quite dissimilar to my view of running out the non-striker, as happened at the last [Under 19] World Cup. I hate to see batsmen trying to gain an unfair advantage, whether through negligence or on purpose."
And whatever people's opinions, Bishop is unequivocal that the umpires and players should not receive criticism for the incident. "I want to commend Stewart for this one thing, that he understands the law, and it is to the letter of the law. The umpires must follow the law. There is no out for them or opinion for them. There is an appeal, they must follow the law.
"Whatever your view is these are young players learning the game. How many mistakes have we made in different spheres of life? I'm not saying it's a mistake, it depends on your perception. But it's such a learning situation. If you're talking about the so-called 'spirit of the law', maybe it's an opportunity to learn, but I don't think you can be hard if you think the decision was wrong, you can't be hard on these. These are kids learning their way on the path to being adults."
