Mullanpur, April 19: A viral video from the Indian Premier League (IPL) match between Mumbai Indians (MI) and Punjab Kings (PBKS) at Mullanpur Stadium on Thursday sparked controversy as members in the squad and support staff in the dugout of five-time champions were seen allegedly providing illegal assistance to batter Suryakumar Yadav in asking for a review.
During the game, in the 15th over of the MI’s innings, Arshdeep Singh’s delivery was full and way outside off-stump, very close to the tramline. Suryakumar, then playing at 67 in 47 deliveries, tried chasing it. The umpire deemed it a legal delivery. However, the camera shifted the attention to MI dugout, where the head coach, Mark Boucher, was seen gesturing to Suryakumar that it was a wide and Tim David, along with the batting coach Kieron Pollard, was seen urging the batter to take a review, by making the ‘T’ sign using his hands, as per Wisden. According to Wisden, the Article 2.15 (b) of the IPL Code of Conduct for Players and Team Officials, a player playing on the field is forbidden to “seek assistance from any person off the field of play in order to decide whether to request a referral to the TV Umpire”. Though the rules did not allow for it, the decision was sent upstairs to the third umpire for a review. PBKS skipper Sam Curran was seen pointing his finger at the dugout before the decision was referred to the third umpire.
The decision was overturned and MI batters were given a wide and Suryakumar hit Arshdeep for a boundary on the very next ball.
Coming to the match, fine knocks from Suryakumar Yadav (78), Rohit Sharma (36) and Tilak (34) took MI to 192/7 in their 20 overs. Harshal Patel (3/31) was the pick of the bowlers for PBKS.PBKS were 77/6 at one point, but Shashank Sharma (41), Ashutosh Sharma (64) and Harpreet Brar (21) threatened to steal the game from MI. However, they fell nine runs short and skittled out for 183. Jasprit Bumrah (3/21) was the pick of the bowlers for MI.MI are in seventh place with three wins and four losses in the points table and have six points. PBKS are in the ninth spot with two wins and five losses. (Agencies)
