DC assistant coach Shane Watson has said that one can’t do much about a debatable call made by on-field umpires and they must accept that. Watson’s comments was related to Rishabh Pant’s gesture for his batters to come back against RR after a high full toss was not called a no ball by Nitin Menon.
The 15th edition of the Indian Premier League (IPL) saw first major controversy on Friday (April 22) during the last over of the Match 34 between Delhi Capitals (DC) and Rajasthan Royals (RR) at Wankhede Stadium, Mumbai. Chasing a gigantic target of 223, the DC did well, but still needed 36 off the final over.
West Indies’ power-hitter Rovman Powell was on strike, against his countrymate Obed McCoy, who conceded 32 off his first two overs. Powell smacked two sixes in the first two balls to bring hope among the DC fans, and managed to hit the third ball over the boundary rope as well. However, it was a controversial high full toss, which could be called no ball as well, but the on-field umpire Nitin Menon remained unmoved. He did not go to third umpire either for clarity.
It was a crunchy situation for the DC, who had won three and lost three matches in IPL 2022 by then. Skipper Rishabh Pant was not happy at all after seeing that happen. He asked his batters to return to the pavilion, and even sent batting coach Pravin Amre at the field with a message.
But Shane Watson, the DC’s assistant coach who was in charge in Ricky Ponting’s absence, did not like what Pant did. The former Australian all-rounder said everyone should accept umpires’ decisions, whether they were right or wrong.
“It was very disappointing what happened in that last over. Unfortunately, we were in that position in the game where we were not able to put things together long enough throughout that game. And look, in the end, what we at the Delhi Capitals don’t stand for is what happened. The umpire’s decision whether it’s right or wrong, we have to accept it. And someone running on the field is…we can’t accept and well it’s not good enough,” Watson said at the post-match conference.
“In the end, the thing is you’ve got to accept the umpire’s decision whether it’s a good one or a not-so-good one. So in the end we’ve just got to get on with the game. And that’s the thing I was communicating at that point of time as well. To just make sure we get on with the game, whether we agree with a decision or not. Always taught as youngsters that you’ve got to accept the umpire’s decision and that’s what we should have done .”
Further, Watson admitted that the ‘unfortunate’ stoppage broke the momentum that Powell gained, and it cost them the match. The RR conceded just two runs of the last three balls to secure a 15-run win.
“It seems that way in the way the game panned out in the last couple of balls. There’s no question that when there’s a big stoppage of play like that, it changes the momentum. It gave Obed McCoy a little bit of time to regroup as well. In the end the way the game panned out, that stoppage did play into Rajasthan Royals’ hands. It was an unfortunate stoppage,” he concluded.
