Rishabh Pant’s ‘no-ball’ incident
After Rishabh Pant’s ‘no-ball’ incident, Mumbai Indians coach and ICC Hall of Famer Mahela Jayawardena have advocated for sweeping rule changes. In light of the controversial no-ball incident in the Delhi Capitals vs Rajasthan Royals match at Wankhede last Friday, Mumbai Indians head coach Mahela Jayawardene feels television umpires may need to look at regulating throws to the waist in the future.
The non-ball not being called on by the umpires when Rovman Powell struck Obed McCoy for a six on the third ball of the final caused great controversy in a match that Rajasthan won by 15 runs. The third umpire should have “interfered” to check for a probable waist-high no-ball in the thrilling last over of Delhi Capitals’ IPL match against Rajasthan Royals, according to a disgruntled Delhi Capitals skipper Rishabh Pant.
Pant, when asked about the incident at the post-match press conference, remarked, “The no-ball, I reasoned, might have been quite valuable to us. I believed we should have double-checked that no-ball, but I don’t have control over it.” Powell smashed three consecutive sixes off Obed McCoy’s first three deliveries, requiring 36 runs from the final over. DC needs an additional 18 from the remaining three deliveries.
This infuriated the Delhi camp, with captain Rishabh Pant in the dugout attempting to separate Powell and Kuldeep Yadav from the herd, and assistant coach Pravin Amre rushing to the officials on the field to further debate the judgment. Pant and Amre were both fined 100% of the match money and Amre was also suspended for one match.
There is presently no in-game rule that allows a TV judge to review complete throws at the waist, but Jayawardene feels that such decisions should be made in the future. “It’s something that happens in the future and I think we need to look at that. Is there an option for the third judge to look at these things and inform the judges that this is a delivery that needs to be checked?” questioned Mahela Jayawardene during the ICC Review?
“The third umpire shall review television replays of the bowler’s front foot landing and, if he/she is satisfied that any of these three conditions have not been met, he/she shall immediately advise the bowler’s end umpire, who shall in turn immediately call and signal No ball,” according to clause 21.5 of the ICC Playing Conditions.
The regulation clearly indicates that the third umpire is not to get engaged in these matters. He also said that seeing Amre on the field was encouraging and that it provided an opportunity to reassess the regulation.
“The spirit of the game and to see things moving forward, it is never an option for a player or a coach to come on to the field,” said Jayawardena.
“We (coaches) have the ability to come on to the field during the strategic time out at the IPL and that should be the only time that coaches or anyone else should be allowed (on the field).”
