Royal Challengers Bangalore skipper Virat Kohli has slammed the umpires after they failed to spot a no-ball off the last delivery in his side’s six-run loss to Mumbai Indians on Thursday.
Bangalore needed seven runs to win off the final delivery bowled by Lasith Malinga which eventually ended up being a dot-ball by the Sri Lanka pace veteran.
However, replays then revealed that the Mumbai pacer had overstepped his mark by some distance, leaving Kohli furious at the post-match presentation.
Had the umpires called a front foot no-ball, Bangalore could have had a realistic shot at winning the 2019 Indian Premier League (IPL) clash against the three-time champions via a free hit.
“We are playing at the IPL level and not playing club cricket. The umpires should have had their eyes open. That’s a ridiculous call at the last ball,” Kohli was quoted as saying by AFP.
In an era of so much technology and with so much at stake NO BALLS should never ever be missed .... #JustSaying #IPL2019
— Michael Vaughan (@MichaelVaughan) March 28, 2019
“If it is a game of margins, I don’t know what is happening. They should have been more sharp and careful out there,” the right-hander added.
Kohli found support from his Mumbai counterpart Rohit Sharma with several former cricketers like Michael Vaughan and Kevin Pietersen also voicing their criticisms of the umpires.
“There’s a TV up there, they have to watch what’s happening… Eventually it’s not good for the game and whatever is not good for the game, I won’t stand for that,” said Rohit.
“Those decisions can cost you games and those games can cost you the tournament. We work really hard to win the tournament and those kind of mistakes are not acceptable.”
“In an era of so much technology and with so much at stake NO BALLS should never ever be missed,” former England skipper Vaughan posted on Twitter.
Meanwhile, his England compatriot Pietersen said, “a NO BALL like that should NOT happen”.
The loss left Royal Challengers Bangalore without any points to show for after their two IPL 2019 matches. Kohli’s men had been handed a seven-wicket loss in the tournament opener earlier by defending champions Chennai Super Kings.
