Duleep Trophy: North Zone face flak for 'unsportsmaship' 5.5 overs in 53 minutes strategy

Although teams don’t see any ethical quandary in putting into action any plan to win the match in the heat of the clash, the North Zone took a bizarre route on the final day of their Duleep Trophy match against the South Zone. Faced with the task of defending just 32 runs in the last session of the final day, they chose to loaf away time to drag the game to a draw. It took them 53 minutes to bowl 5.5 overs before the South Zone eventually beat them, but this certainly left a bad taste in the mouths of many cricket lovers. Three of the overs took at least 10 minutes each as fielders from deep positions were called in the 30 yards circle on one ball and dispatched back the next. Former Indian cricketer from Karnataka Dodda Ganesh took to Twitter to highlight the lousy tactic and hoped that those responsible for the game at the highest level would take note. “Hopefully going forward the men at the helm take measures to curb the unsportsmaship behaviour,” he remarked.

However, the South Zone captain Hanuma Vihari didn’t seem to have any problem with the North Zone’s perverse attempt at dragging the game. In fact, he admitted he wouldn’t have done any different had he been the North Zone skipper. “I’ve come across a lot of games where a team is trying to delay in the final few overs because it gives advantage, which is obviously not wrong on their part. Some will say it is not in the spirit of the game, but even if I was the captain, I would have done the same thing,” he told reporters after the game. Now the Southerners will face the West Zone in the final. Read all the Latest News , Trending News , Cricket News , Bollywood News , India News and Entertainment News here. Follow us on Facebook , Twitter and Instagram .