Our Bureau
New Delhi
The umpiring in this season of the Indian Premier League has been a rather disappointing affair. Many decisions have been questioned by fans and players alike. One such incident happened in the match between Delhi Capitals and Punjab Kings. Preity Zinta, the owner of the Punjab Kings commented on the incident and expressed her disappointment on the level of umpiring.
Last night, in the 15th over of the first innings of the Kings, their star lower-order batsman Shashank Singh had hit a great strike which seemed to be travelling for a maximum but Karun Nair didn’t allow it. Nair intercepted the ball’s trajectory as he grabbed the ball and threw it back inside the field and it looked like he had saved some handy runs for the team. But Nair signalled from the boundary that it was a six and his foot had touched the boundary ropes.
The third umpire took the matter in his own hands and ran the checks. There was no evidence of Nair’s foot touching the boundary rope. Hence, the Punjab batter was only allotted a single run. The decision however didn’t satisfy owner of Punjab Kings who later showed her annoyance through a tweet on her social media.
Zinta wrote, “In such a high profile tournament with so much technology at the Third Umpire’s disposal such mistakes are unacceptable & simply shouldn’t happen. I spoke To Karun after the game & he confirmed it was DEFINITELY a 6! I rest my case!”
Although Punjab had qualified for the playoffs, this was a must win match for them if they wanted to seal their spot in the Qualifier 1. Now that they have lost the match to the Capitals, they will have to defeat the Mumbai Indians in their final match of the season if they want to be in Qualifier 1. The teams that end on top 2 in the tournament get two chances to reach the finals whereas teams on the 3rd and 4th spot don’t have that luxury and both their games become do or die.
