IPL 2019: Umpire Ravi wasn't checking bowling crease, reveals broadcasting official

While the entire episode left RCB captain Virat Kohli fuming, the latest revelation from the broadcasting official has sparked another controversy

The Royal Challengers Bangalore (RCB) would never forget the loss to Mumbai Indians (MI) on March 28 where the umpiring goof-up played a major role. With 7 required off the last ball, Malinga delivered an overstepped no-ball and umpire S Ravi didn’t notice. While the entire episode left RCB captain Virat Kohli fuming, the latest revelation from one of the broadcasting officials has sparked another controversy. As per media reports, a senior STAR official, who went through the feed of the match, revealed that Ravi was looking at the batsman when Malinga reached the bowling crease. “Having gone through the slow-motion replay of the match feed, I can tell you for certain that Ravi wasn't even looking at the front foot of the bowler. He was already looking at the batsman,” the official said. Commenting on this howler, a senior BCCI executive said that the practice was being followed by most Indian umpires these days as they look to check the legality of the delivery in case a batsman is out. “The old habit of first looking at the bowler's foot at the point of delivery and then looking towards the batsman is being ignored by most Indian umpires these days. They just look at the line where the ball is pitching and take it from there. If a batsman is dismissed, they go up to the third umpire and check for the no-ball,” the executive said. A BCCI functionary confirmed that the matter was being looked into by Team IPL - the governing council has been disbanded by the Committee of Administrators - and the howler would be taken into account when umpire evaluation is done at the end of the group stage. “Team IPL has noted the matter and this will definitely be taken into consideration when the evaluation is done at the end of the group phase. It won't be too surprising if Ravi loses out on matches in the playoffs,” the functionary said. Both RCB skipper Virat Kohli and MI captain Rohit Sharma made their displeasure known. In fact, Rohit went on to add that the third ball of the 19th over from Jasprit Bumrah was unfairly called a wide by umpire Nandan.