Kumar Sangakkara, Rajasthan Royals (RR) Director of Cricket and head coach, reckoned that the umpires should show consistency while calling wides. During the penultimate over of Kolkata Knight Riders’ (KKR) run-chase on Monday, May 2, on-field umpire Nitin Pandit called three wides when middle-order batter Nitish Rana was shuffling around in the crease to break pacer Prasidh Krishna’s rhythm.

On Monday, May 2, umpire Nitin Pandit came under the scanner for his wide calls during the fag end of Kolkata Knight Riders’ run-chase in their match against the Rajasthan Royals. The left-handed Nitish Rana kept giving himself room to play on the on-side and Prasidh Krishna kept trying to bowl wide away from the batter. But to the bowler’s dismay, the umpire kept outstretching his arms.

The wide call on the penultimate delivery of the 19th over bowled by Prasidh Krishna has invited widespread criticism of the decision | Photo: BCCI/IPL/Screengrab

The wide called on the penultimate delivery of 19th over bowled by Prasidh Krishna has invited widespread criticism of the decision | Photo: BCCI/IPL/Screengrab — The wide call on the penultimate delivery of the 19th over bowled by Prasidh Krishna has invited widespread criticism of the decision | Photo: BCCI/IPL/Screengrab

Kumar Sangakkara: Consistency Is Important In Terms Of Calling Wides

While talking about the wide calls, the 44-year-old Kumar Sangakkara also admitted that the Rajasthan Royals didn’t play proper cricket at the Wankhede Stadium in Mumbai.

“Consistency is the most important thing in terms of calling wides. There are some new rules where you can’t create a wide, but destroy a wide by moving around the crease and before the delivery is made, any movement that you make becomes a starting point for the wide line to start moving. It’s what it is at the end of the day, but at the same time, we’ve got to realize that we didn’t play good enough cricket in the last two games,” Kumar Sangakkara said in the post-match press conference.

After losing to Mumbai Indians (MI) by five wickets, the Royals faced their fourth loss of the tournament following their seven-wicket loss to the Knight Riders. While Rajasthan Royals (RR) were the beneficiaries of a questionable decision against the Delhi Capitals (DC), the Sanju Samson-led side was at the receiving end of a controversial wide call by the on-field umpire on Monday against the Kolkata Knight Riders (KKR).

Prasidh Krishna, who was the star for RR bowling a maiden 19th over against DC, was given the duty of the penultimate over once again with 18 runs to defend. KKR’s Rinku Singh was in magnificent touch as he hit a four on the third ball of the over while Krishna had already bowled a couple of wide deliveries. His line remained wide outside the off-stump to deny any shots on the leg-side.

On the penultimate delivery of the over the KKR batter, Nitish Rana had shuffled across the off-stump, so much so that he was almost near the tramline and to keep the ball outside his reach, Prasidh Krishna bowled a delivery just outside that white line, but the umpire gave it a wide. Sanju Samson was naturally miffed with the call and was involved in an animated discussion but the umpire’s decision stayed.

Kumar Sangakkara Admits There’s A Lot To Improve For Rajasthan Royals

Kumar Sangakkara admitted that in both the matches, the Royals couldn’t quite give their innings a finishing kick. However, the veteran, also a former Sri Lankan cricketer, lauded the bowlers for trying their hearts out.

“Two scratchy games, we didn’t get enough runs on the board. Against Mumbai, we were 130/4 with four overs to go and 170 should have been on the board. Today, we just got a little bit bogged down in the middle overs. Sanju (Samson) batted really well and (Shimron) Hetmyer, at the backend, got us to some sort of respectability,” Kumar Sangakkara stated.

Rajasthan Royals (Image Credit: Twitter)

“The bowlers in both games did their utmost to take us into the last over. But a lot to improve on, and a lot to think about for the players and all of us and get better as we get into the next game,” Kumar Sangakkara added.

Prasidh Krishna was forced to bowl on the middle and leg line and Rinku smashed it for a boundary as the equation came down to KKR needing just one run in the final over. Nitish Rana completed the formalities hitting a six as KKR notched up their 4th win of the tournament and kept their qualification hopes alive. Placed third in the points table, the Royals are next scheduled to cross swords with Mayank Agarwal’s Punjab Kings (PBKS) on Saturday, May 7 at the Wankhede Stadium.