IPL 2019: Putting more pressure on umpires will make things worse, says Zaheer Khan

The standard of umpiring in the Indian Premier League (IPL) 2019 has raised quite a few eyebrows and some of the biggest names of Indian cricket, including Virat Kohli, Rohit Sharma and MS Dhoni have lashed out at the goof-ups that the on-field umpires have been committing. While the umpire’s ignoring a no-ball at a crunch situation earlier in the tournament cost the Royal Challengers Bangalore a game and left their captain Kohli livid, on Thursday, ‘captain cool’ Dhoni lost his composure and stormed into the field in Jaipur after one of the umpires did a flip-flop during another tight game against Rajasthan Royals.

However, while many are baying for the umpires’ blood, former India pacer and Mumbai Indians (MI) Director of Cricket Operations Zaheer Khan is of the opinion that the more one puts pressure on the umpires, the more difficult things will become. Dhoni was seen walking out into the ground in the last over of the CSK innings in Jaipur after umpire Ulhas Gandhe called a waist-high delivery from Ben Stokes “no” only to withdraw moments later, leaving the visitors fuming. Even on-field batsman Ravindra Jadeja was seen protesting the act.

“Well, I think a lot of things have improved and there is always room for improvement. So in terms of standards of umpiring, it’s not an easy job and the more pressure you put on them (the umpires), it’s going to be even more difficult,” India TV cited reports as quoting Zaheer as saying ahead of the MI’s game with the RR on April 15.

‘As long call is right, it is fine’

“You know as long as the right call has been made it is fine. Yes in this tournament so far we have seen few incidents where things have gone little out of hand, but as long as the umpiring is consistent throughout the game, then it should be ok,” Zaheer told reporters here on the eve of Mumbai Indians game against Rajasthan Royals (RR).

Dhoni was fined 50 per cent of his match fee for his on-field act. However, former cricketers slammed him saying the veteran cricketer set up a wrong precedent with his unnatural conduct.

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