'Not playing gully cricket', Virat Kohli slams umpire after he fails to spot no ball
Bangalore : Royal Challengers Bangalore required 7 runs on the final ball to win the game against Mumbai Indians, Lasith Malinga bowled the ball aiming at the stumps, it was a dug out towards long off, as Mumbai Indians got home by 6 runs.
However, cameras showed that the last ball bowled was a no-ball as Malinga overstepped, this was not spotted by the field umpire; angered with the incident, Virat Kohli slammed the umpire during the press conference.
“We are playing at the IPL level and not playing club cricket. The umpires should have had their eyes open. That is a ridiculous call (last ball). If it is a game of margins, I don’t know what is happening. They should have been more sharp and careful out there. When they were 145 for 7, we should have done better. The last few overs were brutal for us,” Kohli said at the post-match presser.
Speaking about the performance of the team, he praised AB de Villiers performance and asked other players to get into the tune.
“A few more strikes apart from AB could have done the job for us. We need to be smarter at death bowling. Sure they guys will take a lot of learnings from the game. I think the way they bowled, we can learn from their game. The onus is always on each and every member of the team. I got out at a wrong point of time. Shivam was good as well. I mean Jassi is a top-class bowler. A bit of a mistake from me to take him on at that stage. Mumbai is lucky to have him. And also Malinga. And if Jassi is in good form, it is good for India,” the captain added.
Mumbai Indians skipper Rohit Sharma also supported Virat Kohli's words and said mistakes are not good for the game, umpires should remain more alert during the game.
“I just got to know when we crossed the rope. Somebody just told me it was a no-ball. These kind of mistakes are not good for the game of cricket, it’s pretty simple, the over before that. Bumrah bowled a ball which wasn’t a wide ball. Those are game-changers. There’s a TV up there, they have to watch what’s happening. It is as simple as it is. Players can’t do much. The only thing they can do is walk off and shake hands because it was the last ball. It’s disappointing to see that. I hope they rectify their mistakes like we do when we make mistakes,” Rohit said after the match.
