Former India captain Sunil Gavaskar has criticised the standard of umpiring in the ongoing Indian Premier League (IPL) 2021 season, saying that the decisions taken by the umpires should not make the difference between winning and losing. In the final over of the innings in the match between Delhi Capitals and Chennai Super Kings (CSK) on Monday, the second delivery bowled by Dwayne Bravo landed miles outside off and it did not even hit the pitch. The TV umpire had ruled it as wide and everyone was shocked to see the delivery not being termed as a no-ball.
"That was clearly a no-ball. We've had a couple of decisions from TV umpires, which in these circumstances can make the difference between winning and losing, and that shouldn't happen," said Gavaskar while commentating for Star Sports during the match.
"These kinds of decisions should not change the game. It's a good thing Delhi won because that could have changed the game," he added.
However, the umpire's decision was indeed right and Ravichandran Ashwin's reading of the MCC laws cleared the air on how the on-field official's call was bang on.
"In case, people are wondering, if the ball pitches outside the pitch it is supposed to be a no-ball and if it pitches behind the stumps, it is a wide. That is the clarification," Ashwin told teammate Shimron Hetmyer in a video posted on iplt20.com.
Hetmyer played an unbeaten knock of 28 runs off just 18 balls to help Delhi Capitals defeat CSK by three wickets with two balls to spare. With this win, Rishabh Pant-led outfit moved to the top of the points table with 20 points from 13 games.