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Royal Challengers Bengaluru batting icon and former skipper Virat Kohli was seen having a chat with the on-field umpire after the game against KKR. Bengaluru locked horns with the Kolkata Knight Riders on Sunday at the Eden Gardens, where the formers suffered a heartbreaking defeat by just one run. The high-octane last-ball thriller witnessed an interesting and controversial decision unfolding when the former RCB captain was dismissed.
On the first ball of the third over in RCB’s innings, KKR pacer Harshit Rana delivered a high full toss. Kohli responded to the shot and offed a return catch, which landed in the hands of the bowler. However, Kohli believed that he wasn’t out and the ball would be convicted as a no-ball and hence, he ended up opting for a DRS. After inspection, the third umpire dismissed Kohli’s request and ruled him out. The incident left the batter infuriated and he had a heated discussion with the umpire.
While it received mixed reactions from fans, the star Indian batter was seen having a conversation with the umpire after the match. In videos doing rounds on social media, the umpire could be seen explaining the logic behind the decision.
AB de Villiers shares criticism about third-umpire calls over wide balls
Virat Kohli’s former teammate, AB de Villiers shared his criticism about the third umpire’s calls over wide balls. He urged for ‘common sense’ to be used while making decisions along with the technology. The former South African batter posted after Kohli’s dismissal and insisted that ‘grey areas’ should be removed while making decisions.
AB de Villiers tweeted, “Grey areas in the game open up room for anger and confusion. It’s not a tough fix (for) this. Get the batter’s stance, draw the lines, and use ball tracking. No confusion whatsoever.” He added, “ It’s got nothing to do with bad umpiring, rather common sense to use technology in a game already improved by it. Like the offside rule in football, draw lines and simplify the decision for wides(height, offside, and leg-side). Line to be drawn as the batter enters the crease for height. If (the) batter moves across the wide line obviously moves, but measure it and draw a line, don’t let the 3rd umpire have to thumb-suck the decision. Simple and effective.”
