Former England cricketer Kevin Pietersen on Friday (22nd April) lashed out at Delhi Capitals (DC) for their behaviour over the no-ball controversy. Calling it ‘unacceptable’, he said that it is not good for the game of cricket.
The 34th match of the Indian Premier League (IPL) 2022 between DC and Rajasthan Royals (RR) was marred by a controversy over on-field umpires' decision to not give a no-ball for a waist-high full-toss in the last over of the innings.
Chasing the gigantic total of 223 runs, DC needed 36 runs off the last six balls. Rovman Powell gave his side a real chance as he smashed Obed McCoy for three consecutive sixes.
On the third ball, which was a high full-toss, DC management and skipper Rishabh Pant felt that it was a no-ball and were furious at the umpire for not even checking that it was a legal delivery or not.
Pant's agony was quite visible as he asked Powell and Kuldeep Yadav to come back to the dugout. If this was not enough, assistant coach Pravin Amre also went on the field to have a word with the umpires.
After the incident, McCoy bowled brilliantly, conceding just two runs along with the wicket of Powell to seal the match for RR. It’s fair to say that stoppage in the play disturbed the batter’s concentration and he failed to replicate what he did on the first three balls.
Speaking on Star Sports, Kevin Pietersen lashed out at DC for their behaviour over no-ball in the last over. He said that it disrupted Powell’s concentration, which was more concerning than the umpire's call.
He added that Jos Buttler did the right thing to talk to Pant as sending a coach on the field was not the right thing to do.
"It may have disrupted Rovman Powell's concentration and it may have also disrupted the way Rishabh Pant was thinking about the game. I think that is more concerning to me than the umpire call. The behaviour of Delhi here, I do not think that would have happened if Ricky Ponting was here. I do not think that would have happened at all.
“I think Jos Buttler had every right to walk over to Rishabh Pant and say 'what on the earth are you doing?' For them to send one of their coaches, for one of the coaches to go out there and think that was right and that was the correct behaviour," Kevin Pietersen said.
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Pietersen said the last half an hour of the match was "not good for cricket", adding how Delhi Capitals handled the issue was a "huge huge mistake".
"We play the gentleman's game, people make mistakes. How many times we have nicked off or not nicked off, but given out. Given out LBW when we are not LBW. Myself and Swanny (Graeme Swann) have had long careers, we have played the game for 20 odd years.
“When you see stuff like what we saw in the last half an hour, it is not good for the game of cricket. I do not know who they think they are, that was a huge huge mistake," he said.
Pietersen criticised DC for sending the coach one the field and skipper Pant for calling the players off the field. Calling it ‘unacceptable’, he said that is not how the game of cricket is supposed to play.
"The biggest mistake is the coach running onto the field to talk to the umpire. I mean, I just do not understand the coach. He is a senior figure in that room, Rishabh Pant was calling them off, the guy wanted to walk off. For me, that was unacceptable and I hope I never ever see that in the game of cricket. That is not why we play cricket and that is not how you are supposed to play cricket," he said.
DC will next face Kolkata Knight Riders (KKR) on Thursday (28th April) at Wankhede Stadium in Mumbai.
(Star Sports inputs)
