Royal Challengers Bangalore (RCB) and Kolkata Knight Riders (KKR) faced each other in the Eliminator of the ongoing Indian Premier League (IPL) 2021 at Sharjah Cricket Stadium on Monday. As expected, the match turned out to be a thriller where KKR managed to register the victory.
During the game, RCB skipper Virat Kohli was spotted losing his calm and was seen arguing with on-field umpire Virender Sharma, whose multiple decisions were overturned.
Kohli was involved in a heated argument with the umpire in the 7th over bowled by Yuzvendra Chahal when a decision of not out was given to Rahul Tripathi.
Chahal trapped Tripathi with a googly, but the on-field umpire didn’t look convinced. Then, Kohli consulted wicketkeeper KS Bharat and Chahal before going upstairs. The replay clearly showed the ball hitting the leg-stump, and Sharma had to overturn his decision as Tripathi had to walk back.
Kohli was unhappy as he smashed the ball on the ground and went up to umpire Sharma to express his disappointment. Chris Gaffaney, who was standing at square leg, quickly came near the pitch to intervene.
Here is the video:
https://twitter.com/pant_fc/status/1447604654271983616
Notably, it was the third call from Sharma that was overturned in the match. He had earlier given Shahbaz Ahmed and Harshal Patel out during RCB’s innings, but the verdicts were reversed after successful reviews.
After the game, Kohli admitted the KKR spinners dominated the game and made the difference. He said the Knight Riders played better cricket and deserved to win the contest.
“I think those middle overs where their spinners dominated the game was the difference. They kept bowling in tight areas and kept picking wickets. We had a great start, and it was about quality bowling and not bad batting. They thoroughly deserve to win this one and be in the next round,” said Kohli at the post-match presentation.
