Hyderabad skipper Ambati Rayudu has been handed over a two-match suspension for breaching BCCI’s code of conduct during the Syed Mushtaq Ali trophy match between Hyderabad and Karnataka, played out on January 11, 2018.
Rayudu will not be able to play the first two matches of the Vijay Hazare Trophy Services and Jharkhand. The charge against him was leveled by on-field umpires Mr. Abhijit Deshmukh, Mr. Ulhas Vithalrao Gandhe, and third umpire Mr. Anil Dandekar, and the Hyderabad skipper acknowledged it. The BCCI is also said to be looking into the role of the Hyderabad Team manager in the incident, a release stated on Wednesday (January 31).
Also read: Rayudu explained the protests
The Hyderabad skipper has been suspended for his reaction after a controversial match went Karnataka’s way by a decisive two-run margin. After the same, Rayudu had said, “There was some confusion in the middle at the start of our innings. What I went and told the umpire was ‘Sir, you cannot change the score, we are batting for 204 as our target’. That is exactly what I told him and he said ‘we’ll see it at the end, let the match start.'”
He further added, “The match was stopped for nine minutes, before the second innings. They had no business to stop the match once the target was declared. Then, what we said was we were playing for 204, and that was my exact words.”
As it turned out, Hyderabad fell exactly two runs short, but Rayudu and his players were all in the middle, expecting a Super Over to begin. But, Karnataka was awarded the two-run victory, despite the fact that Hyderabad team protested and stayed on the field, which delayed the next fixture – between Kerala and Andhra – and reduced it to a 13-overs-a-side affair.
Also read: BCCI awaited for referee's report for teh controversial match
Rayudu’s explanation was that the change to the total wasn’t made right away and it shouldn’t have stood. He said, “I’m sure of the rules. If he had changed immediately then it would have been perfect. Even if somebody gets out and you come inside and see that it’s not out, you don’t call the person back. Even in case of a no-ball not correctly called, you cannot call somebody back or add the scores. I don’t know what has happened but we were playing for 204. That is exactly what I wanted to tell and we were waiting for the Super Over which never happened.”
According to the Karnataka camp, the error in judgment from the umpires had been delivered to the TV umpire and once he saw the replays, it was decided that the two extra runs would be added to Karnataka’s total. However, due to a miscommunication between the on-field umpires and the scorers, it wasn’t done immediately and had to be corrected during the innings break.
