Kolkata: Sledges and on-field scuffles have very much become a regular part of the game now. Such an incident happened in the Sunrisers Hyderabad vs Kolkata Knight Riders match Indian Premier League on Sunday. KKR in-form wicketkeeper batsman Robin Uthappa and Sunrisers bowler Siddharth Kaul were involved in a spat.
Knights, in their pursuit of 210 had lost their openers- skipper Gautam Gambhir and Sunil Narine early and it was left on the shoulders of in-form batsman Robin Uthappa to bail them through and fetch them a win. The incident happened in the third over of the innings right after the right-hander had struck a four to open his account.
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When they crossed sides, Uthappa shouldered the young bowler in an attempt to derail him of his confidence as the youngster had already bowled a good over which included the wicket of skipper Gautam Gambhir. The young Kaul was a bit surprised with this behaviour, coming from a 31-year old who has a good amount of international experience.
Veteran all-rounder Yuvraj Singh didn’t take a liking to this behaviour and he was also joined by the umpire, who had a word with the KKR batsman. During the rain-forced break, Yuvraj, walked up to the batsman and had a chat with him and later it was also seen that the former put his hand around Uthappa’s neck and looked to have lent some words of advice. Uthappa, who has played with Yuvraj in many matches for India, seemed to understand his fault and acknowledge the words of his once national teammate.
David Warner happy too…
Hyderabad skipper David Warner didn’t quite appreciate this behaviour and conveyed it to the batsman after he tapped him on his back.
Cricket is an intense game and we all know that. However, the hallmark of a senior cricketer in the gentleman’s game is that he should keep his calm in all situations and act like a senior pro especially while dealing with his juniors.
Such a behaviour coming from an international cricketer of such a good repute isn’t acceptable at all. More so, it is even disgraceful if seen in the context that his conduct was directed at a youngster, to unnerve him. This definitely doesn’t speak well of a senior international cricketer. However, Yuvraj’s intervention in this issue reassures to us cricket fans that still, it is the ‘gentleman’s game’ and that not all things are decided on the field by the emotions today.
As it turned out to be at the end, skipper Warner’s bludgeoning knock of 126 cost the 2012 and 2014 champions a win and courtesy this incident from Uthappa, the Kolkata Knight Riders might as well slip down the rankings in the ‘Fair Play award’.