Currently, the knockout stage of the Ranji Trophy 2018/19 is going on. While Vidarbha has already qualified for the final of the tournament, Saurashtra and Karnataka are fighting it out at the Chinnaswamy Stadium in Bangalore for the final spot. The game has been witnessed a controversy as the veteran Saurashtra batsman Cheteshwar Pujara refused to walk despite edging the ball on the second day.
The incident took place in the 23rd over of Saurashtra’s innings when Pujara was batting at 1 run. Abhimanyu Mithun was spitting fire with the ball in his hand as the pitch was assisting the pacers. He came steaming in even as the batsman got into his strides and the delivered ball pitched just short of a good length area. Pujara, as he usually does, played a forward defensive shot, but the red cherry moved just enough and also bounced to surprise Pujara.
On its way to the wicketkeeper, the ball took the nick from Pujara’s bat and after the ball getting caught by the wicket-keeper Karnataka players were cock-a-hoop. They started celebrating wildly as Cheteshwar Pujara was a huge wicket. But they were unaware of the proceedings at the other end. The batsman didn’t walk as the umpire didn’t raise his finger.
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Karnataka team was left in a huge shock with the umpire’s verdict. They were expectedly aggressive in questioning the decision as the edge was clearly heard. But the on-field umpire suggested them stay calm and get on with the game. The players like Karun Nair and Manish Pandey were furious with the fact that Cheteshwar Pujara, the player of his stature, didn’t walk. They questioned him as well but Pujara was unmoved and was getting ready for the next ball.
Here’s the video:
https://twitter.com/NaaginDance/status/1088715683196792832
Meanwhile, Pujara has continued to bat well after the left-off and is unbeaten on 28 off 80 balls. Saurashtra is currently 137/3 in response to Karnataka’s 275 runs in the first innings. With a fair amount of batting to come, the visiting team is looking the favorites to take the lead and then they can boss the game as well.
