What’s the story?
Mumbai Indians skipper Rohit Sharma has been reprimanded by the match referee, based on the IPL’s Code of Conduct for ‘showing excessive, obvious disappointment with an Umpire’s decision’ after his dismissal in the game against the Kolkata Knight Riders at the Wankhede Stadium in Mumbai on Sunday.
The 29-year-old later admitted to Code 2.1.5 of the IPL Code of Conduct, that also accounts for a Level 1 offence.
"Rohit Sharma, the Mumbai Indians captain, was reprimanded by the match referee for showing excessive, obvious disappointment with an Umpire's decision during his team's contest against the Kolkata Knight Riders at the Wankhede Stadium," A statement said.
In case you didn't know...
During the 10th over of the innings, Sharma was adjudged leg-before-wicket by umpire CK Nandan and the Mumbai Indians captain was not one bit amused and understandably so since the replays showed a big inside-edge which the umpire had missed.
While returning back, Sharma looked at the umpire, with his right hand indicating perhaps, “What was that decision about?” before returning to the dugout.
The heart of the matter
This is not the first time in this IPL that any player has faced the wrath of the match referee. After the game between the Mumbai Indians and the Rising Pune Supergiant, MS Dhoni was also reprimanded, for reasons not known entirely, but presumably for his gesture for the DRS after an lbw decision that, on replays, plumb, was not given by the umpire.
Neither Rohit nor Dhoni faced any cut in match fees or match suspensions for their gestures.
The Rohit decision found criticism on the Intenet as well, with many feeling it would be unfair if he is fined for showing dissent.
Extra Cover: IPL 2017: Rising Pune Supergiant's MS Dhoni admits to level 1 offense for breaching IPL code of conduct
What’s next?
There are two angles here. One, of course, is that players need to control their reactions when decisions are made against their favour. No player likes it when he gets a rough decision against him, but showing dissent isn’t an ideal reaction either.
Number 2: In a competition like the IPL, where there is so much at stake in almost every game, umpires must concentrate on their jobs a lot more closely and hopefully, something like this is not seen in the future matches as well.
Author’s Take
As mentioned above, it is vital for the umpires to remain a lot more vigilant than they usually are on regular match days, during the IPL with so much on the line. Umpiring in such matches becomes even tougher with the large crowds in the stands cheering their favourite side along and hence concentration needs to be top-notch during match days.
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