The IPL group stage match between Kolkata and Rajasthan ended in an exciting albeit controversy-marred finish; as the men-in-purple registered a fine 7-wicket win to put an end to a five-match losing rut.
Rinku Singh and Nitish Rana guide KKR to a much needed win
But for as clinical a performance the KKR batsmen managed to come up with on the night of the match, one couldn’t help but gawk at some of bizarre on-field umpiring calls that went greatly in their favor. More specifically, during the penultimate over of the match, umpire Nitin Pandit went out of his way in judging Rajasthan fast-bowler Prasidh Krishna’s lines.
Defending 18 off 12 balls against the well-set duo of Nitish Rana and Rinku Singh, Prasidh went in with the strategy of bowling sharp and quick outside the off-stump to prevent the batters from getting any width to hit the ball. As it turned out, he erred on two occasions with his game plan, giving far too much length outside of the off-stump to have two wides against his name. One of the wides was even reviewed by RR’s keeper-captain Sanju Samson in desperate bid to get Rinku dismissed.
Umpire Nitin Pandit makes some outrageous wide calls
Things, however, got to the point of being terribly egregious as umpire Pandit adjudged wide to a delivery that bounced just margin’s outside Nitish Rana’s hitting range. Granted, the ball pitched well outside the second tram line outside the off-stump- which normally would’ve sufficed the requirement for a wide delivery. But Rana had shuffled a considerable amount in an attempt to play the ball, and as per the MCC rules, if a batter brings shuffles and brings the ball sufficiently within their hitting range, the delivery should not be deemed wide.
Commentators and Sanju Samson not impressed with Pandit’s decisions
Nitin Pandit, however, had a stark difference of opinion from what Sanju Samson had in mind; as the latter was seen having some fervent arguments with the umpire over his ludicrous calls. The on-air commentators too weren’t quite pleased with what they were seeing on-field.
“This is not a wide, sir”, Mohammed Kaif was heard exclaiming in despair while commentating. His colleague, Aakash Chopra on the other hand, joked that perhaps the IPL needed ‘a third umpire to for this umpire (Pandit)’. Here’s the video of the incident:
https://twitter.com/VaishnaviS45/status/1521190310491336704?t=nks5m6Q3UKLZ09bVlMiDfA&s=19
Give this umpire an Award for best umpiring. Wow what a brilliant umpiring.
#KKRvsRR #KKRvsRR #IPL2022 #umpiring pic.twitter.com/ccGyK0Wm58— 💛 (@yellovesokka) May 2, 2022
Just bcz you're a fan of SRK doesn't mean you have to copy his pose in the match. Poor umpiring decisions in this #IPL2022 .#umpiring #umpire #RRvsKKR pic.twitter.com/21Xu2FqZ1e
— K ♠️ (@notsocalm__) May 2, 2022
ALSO WATCH: Prasidh Krishna hits Trent Boult’s legs when tried to run-out KKR batter
Brief scores: KKR 158/3 (Rana 48*, Rinku 42*, Southee 2/46) beat Rajasthan 152/5 (Samson 54, Hetmyer 27*, Boult 1/25) by 7 wickets.
