Former Indian cricketer, Sunil Gavaskar expressed his disappointment with the Hyderabad Cricket Association (HCA), after a mechanical nut was thrown at the Lucknow Super Giants dugout on Saturday, 13 May.
The incident took place during match 58 of IPL 2023, wherein home side Sunrisers Hyderabad faced Lucknow, at the Rajiv Gandhi International Stadium. In the fourth delivery of the 18th over, Hyderabad batter Abdul Samad struck an Avesh Khan full toss for a boundary, whilst it was also adjudged to be a no-ball for height.
Lucknow’s skipper, Krunal Pandya opted for a DRS, and whilst the ball tracking showed the ball was above Samad’s waist, third umpire Yeswant Barde repealed the no-ball decision owing to the batter being in a crouching position during the shot.
Hyderabad’s fans, however, were visibly bewildered by the decision. While a section of the crowd started chanting Virat Kohli’s name, someone threw a nut in the direction of the Lucknow dugout. Subsequently, the match was halted for a few minutes as umpires had a lengthy conversation with the Super Giants’ management.
Following this incident, Gavaskar expressed concerns about the lack of safety measures at Rajiv Gandhi International Stadium’s dugouts. “What’s hard to understand is most dugouts have what we call flexi-glass. Here, we have a bunch of umbrellas, which are no protection. Come on! The Hyderabad Cricket Association can provide the proper dugouts rather than these makeshift things you see. Obviously, these are a problem, an issue,” he said.
Heinrich Klaasen Disappointed With Hyderabad Crowd
“I’m disappointed with the crowd, to be honest. That’s not what you want. That also broke the momentum. (It was) not great umpiring either. Hopefully, the umpires stay consistent,” the South African said after the match.
Sunrisers, meanwhile, are practically now out of the playoffs race, after a seven-wicket defeat against Lucknow. After doing well with the bat to score 182 runs, Aiden Markram’s bowlers could not defend the total, with Lucknow reclaiming their top four status.
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