The Indian Premier League 2022 was hit by a controversy on Friday evening as ugly scenes emerged on the field during a match between Rajasthan Royals and Delhi Capitals. The DC captain Rishabh Pant feels the third umpire should’ve taken the responsibility to adjudicate the no-ball non-call. Pant said that the decision to stick with the on-field call cost Delhi Capitals, who lost the contest by 15 runs.
The moment happened on the third ball of 20th over of Capitals’ innings, chasing 223, when Obed McCoy bowled a waist-high full toss, and Rovman Powell clobbered it for a six. The over began with 36 needed off six balls, Powell smashed three sixes in a row. DC were expecting a no-ball call in their favour in the third delivery, which would have brought down the equation to 17 off four balls.
Both the on-field umpires Nitin Menon and Nikhil Patwardhan did not signal the no-ball nor sent it upstairs to check. The drama followed as Powell and Kuldeep Yadav argued with the umpires while the DC dugout also gestured for a no-ball check.
Seeing the umpires stick to their decision, Pant asked his players to come off. Yuzvendra Chahal, RR spinner and a friend of Yadav, was seen stopping Kuldeep from going off. Pant then sent an assistant coach Pravin Amre to go in and speak with the umpires.
Shane Watson, another assistant coach, tried to calm down Pant while Royals’ Jos Buttler, who had earlier hammered a third century of the season, had a heated exchange with the DC skipper.
In the post-match interview Pant was asked about his way of expressing dissent by the host Pommie Mbangwa. Pant said the call should’ve been sent upstairs as it could’ve been a difference between a win and a loss.
“I thought that no-ball could have been precious for us. I thought we could have checked that no-ball, but not in my control. Everyone on the ground saw it. I think the third umpire should have interfered in between and said that was a no-ball, but I can’t change the rule myself,”
Pant said.
The Delhi skipper added that what happened on the field wasn’t right, and both the parties – umpires and the DC camp – were at fault.
“Obviously, it wasn’t right, but what happened wasn’t also right. It was heat of the moment, can’t do much about it. I think it was fault of both the sides, not only us, because throughout the tournament we have been seeing some good umpiring. I thought we could have done pretty well,”
he added.
Watson said what transpired on the field was totally unacceptable and the umpire’s decision, whether right or wrong, should be respected.
“In the end, the one thing at the Delhi Capitals you don’t stand for is what happened. The umpires’ decision, whether it’s right or wrong, we have to accept. Someone running onto the field certainly we can’t accept. It’s not good enough,”
Watson said.
After all the chaos, the match eventually resumed. McCoy corrected his lengths and bowled slower to close out the match for the Royals. Watson believes the stoppage in play broke the momentum for Capitals and helped Royals to regroup.
“There is no question when there is a big stoppage in play like that, it can change the momentum. It gave McCoy a little bit of time to regroup as well. That stoppage did play into Rajasthan Royals’ hands. It was an unfortunate stoppage.”
With this victory, RR moved to the top of the table with 10 points from seven games with a superior net run-rate to second and third-placed teams. DC suffered their fourth loss in seven games and are placed sixth with six points.
