IPL 2023: “They hit on the head” – LSG’s fielding coach Jonty Rhodes opens up on crowd chaos in Hyderabad

The Lucknow Super Giants’ remarkable win against the Sunrisers Hyderabad (SRH) in the Indian Premier League (IPL) 2023 on Saturday was marred by crowd trouble. A few decisions that did not go in favour of the Sunrisers resulted in some fans throwing objects onto the field, causing a brief interruption in the match.

It happened after a disagreement arose when the third umpire dismissed SRH’s Abdul Samad’s appeal for a waist-high no-ball against LSG’s Avesh Khan in the third ball of the penultimate over. Initially, the on-field umpire had awarded it as a no-ball, but LSG opted to challenge the decision. The issue was then referred to the third umpire, who subsequently overturned the decision, which not only angered the fans but also the SRH batter Heinrich Klaasen, who seemed to be livid.

While everyone on the field tried to comprehend the decision, members of the LSG team were seen gesturing towards the crowd. It is still unclear what exactly caused the fans to react, but according to reports, some fans threw nuts and bolts at the Super Giants’ dugout, and as a result, one of their players, Prerak Mankad, was hit on the head by one of these objects. The franchise’s fielding coach, Jonty Rhodes, confirmed this incident on social media.

“Not at the dugout, but at the players. They hit Prerak Mankad on the head while he was fielding at long on. #noton,” Rhodes wrote on Twitter.

Not at the dugout, but at the players. They hit Prerak Mankad on the head while he was fielding at long on. #noton https://t.co/4yxmuXh7ZF

— Jonty Rhodes (@JontyRhodes8) May 13, 2023

On-air commentators Sunil Gavaskar and Simon Doull also commented on the inappropriate behaviour of the crowd, who disrupted the match. Gavaskar criticized the Hyderabad Cricket Association (HCA) for failing to provide a suitable dugout for the players and staff of the team. He was heard saying: “What’s hard to understand is most dugouts have what we call flexi-glass. Here we have beach umbrella kind of things, which is no protection. Come on, the Hyderabad Cricket Association can provide the proper dugouts rather than these makeshift things you see. Obviously these are a problem, an issue.”

Doull reckoned that it was disappointing to see how crowd behaved and paused the proceedings of the match.

“They’ve actually made it worse for their own team. It’s disappointing what they’ve done, we won’t go into the details of what they’ve done but it’s really disappointing,” said Doull.

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May 14, 2023 at 02:42PM