IPL 2022: 'Bad sportsman spirit,' Former cricketers and experts react to Rishabh Pant’s gesture in DC vs RR match

Rajasthan Royals (RR) defeated the Delhi Capitals (DC) at Mumbai’s Wankhede Stadium on Friday. More than the win, what grabbed attention was the controversy that was stirred by DC captain Rishabh Pant who gestured his batters to leave the field after a high full-toss ball that seemed like a no-ball. Chasing a target of 223 runs by the Royals, Delhi were restricted to 207/8 and lost the match by 15 runs. Towards the end of the match, spectators witnessed some strong disagreement from the DC camp with two balls to go in the game. [caption id=“attachment_10590501” align=“alignnone” width=“640”]  DC skipper Rishabh Pant tried calling back his batters after the controversy.[/caption] In the final over, Rovman Powell and Kuldeep Yadav were given a difficult task of chasing 36 runs off the last over. The Jamaican cricketer even slammed the first three balls for sixes, needing another 18 runs from the final three deliveries. However, a high full toss off the next delivery by Obed McCoy wasn’t adjudged a no ball and looking at this, the DC camp led by Pant signalled the umpire to check if it was a no-ball or not. The umpires, however, did not check for the possible waist-high delivery and this left the entire DC camp outraged and disappointed. This also halted the match for some time while the DC dugout was forcing the on-field umpires to check the no-ball through the third-umpire. The Capitals were playing without their head coach Ricky Ponting, who has been put under isolation following a COVID-19 positive case in his family. To understand the situation, Rajasthan Royals opener Jos Buttler also spoke to Pant but he did not seem convinced. This happened after Pant had gestured to Powell and Yadav to come back from the pitch and DC’s assistant coach Pravin Amre made his way on the field to protest with the on-field umpires. Meanwhile, DC’s another assistant coach Shane Watson was also seen trying to bring things under control by speaking to Pant. However, the match resumed after a long delay that ended with Delhi losing by 15 runs. This controversy grabbed attention of cricket experts, former cricketers and fans. Royal Challengers Bangalore all-rounder Glenn Maxwell expressed disappointment over the incident.

Former India captain Mohammed Azharuddin termed Pant’s on-field action as “bad sportsman spirit”.  

Cricket commentator Harsha Bhogle put out a series of tweets wherein he said that he missed the action. But further sharing his views on the same he stated that “you cannot call your players in”.

Former England batter Kevin Pietersen labelled Pant’s behaviour as “unacceptable” while speaking to the host broadcaster after the dramatic match.