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Umpires should keep their eyes open, says Kohli

Last updated on: March 29, 2019 08:42 IST

'We are playing at the IPL level. It's not club level.'

Royal Challengers Bangalore captain Virat Kohli slams ICC Elite Panel umpire S Ravi after the final delivery of the match bowled by Mumbai Indians's Lasith Malinga turns out to be a 'no-ball'.

AB de Villiers

IMAGE: AB de Villiers, who was batting on 70, would have faced the last ball with five needed to win. Photograph: IPL/Twitter

An angry Royal Challengers Bangalore captain Virat Kohli came down heavily on ICC Elite Panel umpire S Ravi after the final delivery of the match bowled by Mumbai Indians's Lasith Malinga turned out to be a 'no-ball', which was not awarded to the losing team.

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Winning captain Rohit Sharma was also critical of the standard of umpiring during the match.

 

"We are playing at the IPL level. It's not club level; the umpires should have their eyes open. That was a big no-ball. That is a ridiculous call (last ball). If it is a game of margins, I don't know what is happening. They should have been more sharp and careful out there," a livid Kohli said at the post-match presentation ceremony.

Incidentally, Ravi is the only Indian umpire in ICC's Elite Panel for a number of years now as none of the others have been good enough to be elevated.

Needing 7 to win and 6 to take it to Super Over, Malinga's full toss yielded only one run, but the giant screen replay showed that the bowler had overstepped and a free hit should have been awarded.

Had it been a free-hit, AB de Villiers, batting on 70, would have faced the bowler with five needed to win.

"We should have done a better job with the ball after they were seven down. The last few overs were brutal for us. Bit of a mistake from me to take (Jasprit) Bumrah on at that time. Bumrah makes a hell of a difference in any team," said, the RCB skipper, praising his India teammate.

Winning captain Rohit also voiced concern about umpiring.

"Honestly, I just go to know after crossing the rope that it was a no-ball. These kind of mistakes aren't good for the game. The over before that (which) Bumrah bowled, a ball wasn't a wide but it was called," said Rohit, referring to a decision by the other umpire, C Nandan.

"Anything over 180 you can fight with. It wasn't a safe score but we had the bowlers to get the job done. Even though Virat and AB had a partnership going, we didn't panic. I thought we stuck to our plans; it was a great effort by the bowlers. Should have got 200 with the bat on this pitch."

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