Either controversy has reared its ugly head in IPL 9, or there has been a comedy of errors, but what is not up for debate is that what happened at the toss before this week’s KKR-KXIP match is a mystery.
On Wednesday, Kolkata Knight Riders hosted Kings XI Punjab, beating them by 7 runs on the back of a strong show by their openers and Andre Russell. However, it is not clear whether the sequence of events in the match was above board.
KXIP won the toss and captain Murali Vijay sent KKR in to bat, saying that he would like to put pressure on the hosts by making them bat first, because they are good chasers.
However, from what was heard by TV audiences, Vijay had not won the toss, and had no right to send KKR in to bat first.
This is what happened at the toss – Ravi Shastri set up the stage for the toss with a few words of greeting in Bengali. He then introduced the two captains, Gautam Gambhir and Murali Vijay, match referee Amit Sharma and the toss representative.
It was Gambhir who spun the coin. It was 'heads' that was called by Vijay, as relayed by Shastri through the microphone. Shastri then asked the match referee what the result was. Match referee Sharma said ‘Tail it is’, and pointed to Vijay. There was a moment of confusion, an exchange of words between Gambhir and Vijay, and then it was the Punjab captain who approached Ravi Shastri and shook his hand.
Vijay said, "We are going to bowl first. There is a prediction of rain but we aren't thinking too much about it. KKR are good chasers so we'd like to put them under pressure.”
When Gambhir was called, he did not seem to have a problem with what had just happened. He said, "We don't mind batting first. We're playing three spinners and the wicket looks dry so it's a good opportunity to bat.”
It might be that the result of the toss was unjust to KKR, but there was no way the match could be similarly manipulated. Glenn Maxwell did fray some nerves in the KKR camp, but the match was always tilted in the home side's favour, who inched it by 7 runs.
It is possible that either Shastri or the match referee were in error in stating something during the toss, thus causing the confusion. Had they both been right, however, one question needs an immediate answer. Why did Shastri go to Vijay despite of the fact that he had called ‘heads’ and the coin had landed as ‘tails’?
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