Kings XI Punjab lost the first game against Delhi Capitals due to an umpiring error by on-field umpire Nitin Menon on Sunday, September 20. A clip from the 19th over involving Chris Jordan went viral on social media.
During the 19th over of the nail-biting thriller, Chris Joran had reached his ground while taking a run. However, due to Menon’s umpiring error, the Punjab franchise and the batsman was not awarded a run. Ultimately that one run became the deciding factor in the game.
KL Rahul to report against umpire Nitin Menon?
Meanwhile, one of the spokesperson of the IPL Governing Council has said that Kings XI Punjab skipper KL Rahul has the authority to complain about umpire Menon after his mistake. He said that the matter will be taken up for assessment and that mistakes like this are not tolerable in such a high-profile league.
“The process is that the team reports the matter through the captain and team manager. After that, we assess it as the governing council. The match referee also puts in his report wherein he can mention the same,” the official said.
When asked about the repeated mistakes that the umpires have been doing in the IPL in recent years, the spokesperson said “The umpires really need to be on top of their game here. Such errors, even though they do happen at the highest level, are not a good advertisement for umpiring standards. Maybe it’s time to look at using cutting edge technology for assisting umpires with line calls.”
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“Whether this would have changed what happened is difficult to say as the strike would have changed and Mayank was hitting the ball sublimely and the change of strike could have thrown that out of gear” he added further.
Meanwhile, former KIXP mentor and coach Virender Sehwag in a sarcastic tweet brought to the umpiring mistake to everyone’s notice.
“I don’t agree with the man of the match choice. The umpire who gave this short run should have been man of the match. Short Run nahin tha. And that was the difference. #DCvKXIP,” Sehwag tweeted.
I don’t agree with the man of the match choice . The umpire who gave this short run should have been man of the match.
Short Run nahin tha. And that was the difference. #DCvKXIP pic.twitter.com/7u7KKJXCLb— Virender Sehwag (@virendersehwag) September 20, 2020
Soon after, Kings XI Punjab owner Preity Zinta joined Sehwag and requested the BCCI bring a change in the rules of the game in the future.
Earlier in the game, KXIP rather drastically tied a game they should have won hands down in Dubai. Both teams scored 157 in their allotted 20 overs. Delhi Capitals then kept their cool to get a win in the Super Over.
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