After Virat Kohli episode, why did Gautam Gambhir fiercely argue with fourth umpire during RCB's chase vs KKR?

After Virat Kohli episode, why did Gautam Gambhir fiercely argue with fourth umpire during RCB's chase vs KKR?

5 months ago | 36 Views

It wasn't just Royal Challengers Bengaluru batter Virat Kohli who argued with the umpire during the match against Kolkata Knight Riders at the Eden Gardens in Kolkata on Sunday. Later in the same innings, towards the fag end of RCB's chase, KKR mentor Gautam Gambhir was spotted having an animated chat with the fourth umpire near the dugout, with head coach Chandrakant Pandit joining as well.

The incident happened at the start of the 18th over of RCB's chase when the visitors required 31 off the last two overs with Dinesh Karthik on strike. KKR captain Shreyas Iyer was spotted gesturing towards the KKR dugout after having a chat with the on-field umpire, indicating something that was not allowed to the home team.

Gambhir then charged towards the fourth umpire near the boundary rope and fiercely argued with him before Pandit joined in as well. While initially, the commentators could not understand what the discussion was about, it was soon revealed that KKR wanted Sunil Narine off the field for the final two overs and get Rahmanullah Gurbaz as a substitute fielder. With Narine having completed his quota of four overs, KKR wanted an able fielder for the final two overs with RCB threatening to chase down the daunting total.

However, the umpire was quick to deny KKR the advantage as Narine returned to the field and Gurbaz went off, leaving Gambhir furious.

RCB did look favourites to chase down the remaining 31 runs with Dinesh Karthik, who smashed three boundaries and a six in his 18-ball 25, at the crease. But with his dismissal before the final over, where RCB needed 21 runs with Karn Sharma and Mohammed Siraj at strike, the result seemed a foregone conclusion. But the former, with no real pedigree with the bat, hammered three sixes off Mitchell Starc to reduce the margin to three runs off two balls. However, the Aussie redeemed himself taking a return catch to dismiss Karn (20, 7b, 3x6) and Lockie Ferguson was run out off the last ball as RCB ended up at 222 all out in 20 overs.

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