Vijay Hazare Trophy, 2017-18: Hyderabad call back Chhattisgarh batsman after an umpiring blunder

Hyderabad made it to the knockouts of the Vijay Hazare Trophy after missing out on the same in Ranji and Syed Mushtaq Ali tournaments. Hyderabad team came into the season with the form of winning the pre-season tournaments; Moin-ud-Dowlah Gold Cup and Buchi Babu Tournament. However, their first two home games getting washed out cost them a final eight finish in the Ranji Trophy and losing close encounters in the T20 tournament saw them getting knocked out in the Zonal round only.

The Hyderabad team made news in the last month not for their performances but due to the dramatic T20 game which they lost to Karnataka by a 2-run margin. The umpires failed to recheck a boundary during Karnataka’s innings but those runs were added just before the start of Hyderabad’s chase only after their skipper Vinay Kumar’s intervention. The on-field umpires convinced the Hyderabad captain Ambati Rayudu about looking into the matter after the game which never happened.

Rayudu and his team expected a Super Over as they ended up with Karnataka’s initial score which resulted in delaying the next game at the same venue. In the report to the BCCI match referee, Rayudu pleaded guilty to the offence and accepted the sanction of a two-match ban. This kept him out of Hyderabad’s first two matches in the Vijay Hazare Trophy. In a virtual pre-quarterfinal game against Chhattisgarh on Wednesday, the Hyderabad skipper proved his sportsmanship by calling the batsman back to the crease.

Chasing a total of 281, Chhattisgarh were six down for 155 after 35 overs with Sanjeet Desai standing as their last hope. Sanjeet tried to sweep the delivery from Syed Mehdi Hasan in the 36th over but was given out by the umpire Sudhir Asnani with the ball hitting his pads. Umpire Amish Saheba at square leg found an inside edge which the main umpire failed to notice. Both the umpires consulted about the same with Rayudu, who didn’t have any objections in calling the batsman back. Kolla Sumanth, Hyderabad’s wicketkeeper, who effected five dismissals in the game confirmed the incident to CricTracker.

First time for Hyderabad in six years:

Sanjeet Desai could only add 17 runs to his score after being called back and couldn’t make any difference to the result. Chhattisgarh were bowled out to 196 as Mohammed Siraj took his 2nd five-wicket haul of the tournament. With the 84-run win, Hyderabad ended as table toppers in the Group D with five wins in six games. They qualified for the knockouts starting from 21st in Delhi which will be telecasted live by the official broadcaster Star Sports. This win also meant Hyderabad made it to the knockouts of the Vijay Hazare Trophy for the first time in six years. The last time they played knockouts of this tournament was in 2011/12 but couldn’t go past Quarter-Final.