IPL 2018: Michael Clarke Lambastes Umpire For Over ‘No Ball’ Controversy Against Mumbai Indians

IPL 2018, KKR vs MI, Match 41: Michael Clarke was in no mood to spare the umpires after a false 'no ball' was called on May 9

By: Arun Rawal |
May 10, 2018 9:38 pm

Former Australian skipper Michael Clarke has been commentating in Indian Premier League (IPL) 2018. Clarke was in the Star Sports Select dugout during Kolkata Knight Riders’ (KKR) clash against Mumbai Indians (MI) on May 9 at Eden Gardens, Kolkata. In the 16th over of the first innings, Tom Curran overstepped according to the umpire. However, the replay showed that his foot had landed inside the line and then slid forward.

Curran was audibly unhappy about the decision after seeing the replay. He even went on to ask for a review for the no-ball. KKR skipper walked up to umpire KN Ananthapadmanabhan and then asked the English fast bowler to go ahead and bowl the free-hit delivery instead of protesting.

Hardik Pandya could not make much use of the free hit but that did not stop Clarke from bashing the umpires. Renowned journalist and writer of Sachin Tendulkar’s autobiography Bora Majumdar took to Twitter and expressed his happiness over Clarke being honest on the mic instead of being modest.

Here’s what he tweeted —

The reason @MClarke23 is a personal favourite is because he calls spade a spade. Said The no ball call was not a mistake, it was a disgrace. And he was spot on.

— Boria Majumdar (@BoriaMajumdar) May 9, 2018

The Australian was quick to reply and once again voiced his opinion on the matter —

That’s our job buddy, see it and make a call. Horrible umpiring on this occasion and with all the technology in our game these days it should be overturned https://t.co/1ovnOlac4H

— Michael Clarke (@MClarke23) May 9, 2018

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Despite poor umpiring, it was Kolkata Knight Riders’ (KKR) batting lineup which disappointed their home crowd. They never seemed shift gears in order to chase the huge target of 211. They were bundled out for 108 with 11 balls left in the innings.

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They lost the match by a huge margin of 102 runs and slipped in the IPL points table as well. They are in the fifth spot with a negative Net Run Rate (NRR) of -0.359.