Umpires withdrawing a no-ball call is extremely rare

NEW DELHI: An Indian Premier League umpire has been reported to the national body for allegedly kicking a door after an altercation with Royal Challengers Bangalore skipper Virat Kohli, a press report said yesterday.

Englishman Nigel Llong's on-pitch argument with Kohli, who is also Indian captain, was just the latest in a string of heated exchanges between players and umpires in this edition of the T20 extravaganza.

Llong, 50, who is due to umpire the IPL final on Sunday, called out Bangalore paceman Umesh Yadav for a no-ball in a May 4 match against Sunrisers Hyderabad but replays suggested the bowler's back foot was behind the line.

Kohli and Yadav protested the call, made in the final over of the Hyderabad innings, but Llong stood with his decision. Umpires withdrawing a no-ball call is extremely rare. Llong, who is on the International Cricket Council's Elite Panel of umpires, then vented his anger by kicking the door of the umpires' room at Bangalore's M. Chinnaswamy Stadium, according to the Times of India newspaper.

The newspaper said that Llong paid 5,500 rupees ($72) in compensation for the damage but the state association has decided to report the incident to the sport's national body, the BCCI. "It was an unfortunate incident. As a state association we are duty bound to report it and we are writing to the CoA (Committee of Administrators)," a state official was quoted as saying.

The Board of Control for Cricket in India was not immediately available for comment. Llong was also part of a controversial decision during Bangalore's rained-off match against Rajasthan Royals when the bowlers were allowed to bowl only one over in the five-overs-a-side contest when a maximum of two is allowed.

The ugliest incident involving players and umpires this IPL involved Chennai Super Kings skipper and former Indian captain Mahendra Singh Dhoni storming onto the pitch to confront Indian umpire Ulhas Gandhe over a no-ball decision.

Gandhe signalled a no-ball for height, only for his Australian square-leg colleague Bruce Oxenford to overrule. Dhoni, who had been bowled by Ben Stokes the previous delivery, ran out of the dugout to argue with the officials.

Dhoni, 37, due to lead Chennai against Mumbai Indians in the IPL's first effective semi-final -dubbed "El Clasico" of the IPL-was docked 50 percent of his match fee.

This IPL also witnessed controversy on only the third day when Ravichandran Ashwin's "Mankad" run-out of England batsman Jos Buttler triggered a worldwide debate on the spirit of cricket.

Ashwin, captain of Kings XI Punjab, stopped in his delivery stride to whip off the bails while Buttler, for Rajasthan Royals, was backing up at the non-striker's end. While within the rules of cricket it is generally seen as contravening the spirit. - AFP