“We are playing IPL, not club cricket: Virat Kohli lashed out on the last ball ‘no ball’
“We are playing IPL, not club cricket: Virat Kohli lashed out on the last ball ‘no ball’
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An angry Royal Challengers Bangalore captain Virat Kohli came down heavily on ICC Elite Panel Umpire S Ravi after the final delivery of the match bowled by Mumbai Indians' Lasith Malinga turned out to be a 'no-ball', which was not awarded to the losing team. More importantly, winning captain Rohit Sharma was also critical of umpiring standard during the match.

A livid Kohli said at the post-match presentation ceremony "We are playing at the IPL level. It's not club level, the umpires should have their eyes open. That was a big no-ball. 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,". Incidentally, Ravi is the only Indian umpire in ICC's Elite Panel for a number of years now as none of the others have been good enough to be elevated.

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Here it is to be noted that needing 7 to win and six to take it to Super Over, Malinga's full toss yielded only one run but the big screen replay showed that the bowler had overstepped and a free hit should have been awarded. Had it been a free-hit, AB de Villiers batting on 70 would have faced with five needed to win. The RCB skipper praised his India teammate "We should have done a better job with the ball after they were seven down. The last few overs were brutal for us. Bit of a mistake from me to take Bumrah on at that time. Bumrah makes a hell of a difference in any team,".

Winning captain Rohit also voiced his concerns about umpiring. Rohit referred to a decision given by other umpire C Nandan "Honestly, I just go to know after crossing the rope that it was a no-ball. These kind of mistakes aren't good for the game. The over before that Bumrah bowled, a ball which wasn't a wide but it was called,".  "Anything over 180 you can fight with. It wasn't a safe score but we had the bowlers to get the job done. Even though Virat and AB had a partnership going, we didn't panic. I thought we stuck to our plans, it was a great effort by the bowlers. Should have got 200 with the bat on this pitch."

also read Virat Kohli became the fastest batsman in the history of IPL by making a record

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