Ravi Shastri takes aim at RCB's farcical injury delay after Khaleel Ahmed vacates field immediately: ‘Wasted 10 minutes’

RCB received backlash after causing massive delay against MI, but the CSK fast-bowler left the field after suffering an injury of his own.

The extreme heat and humidity during the summer months has seen plenty of bowlers and batters pull up with cramps during the ongoing Indian Premier League, but different teams have had different ways to deal with that particular kind of adversity in the last week.

Khaleel Ahmed struggles physically during CSK's match vs KKR. (PTI)

In Chennai Super Kings’ win over Kolkata Knight Riders on Tuesday evening, fast-bowler Khaleel Ahmed pulled up a couple of times late on in the second innings. After initially receiving minor treatment and trying to run in to close out his over, Khaleel had to pause mid run-up. Subsequenltly, he hobbled off the field to receive further treatment, with Gurjapneet Singh closing out the over in his stead.

Watching this incident, Ravi Shastri on broadcast for JioHotstar couldn’t help but remember an incident from a couple of days prior, as the RCB vs MI match had delved into a farce in very similar circumstances.

"Rather than calling the pyhsio and wasting 10 minutes then doing the same thing, he has decided to walk off,” Shastri said on air as Khaleel left the pitch late on, allowing the game to progress – something that wasn’t the case during Bengaluru’s bowling innings on Sunday night, which was extended endlessly as seamer Rasikh Dar received treatment three different times over the course of a single over.

IPL matches duration earns mass criticism

That incident was a sticking point for fans and commentators as the IPL struggles with question marks over the pace of play, with games lasting 4 hours or more. The RCB-MI match at the Wankhede is being cited as the longest regulation 40-over match in IPL history with a total run-time of 4h22m, concluding just shy of midnight.

While games with super overs have lasted longer, social media posts regarding the match beating popular Bollywood movie Dhurandhar’s run-time went viral over the weekend. Lengthy reviews and extensive injury timeouts was a big reason for this, as commentators including Sunil Gavaskar lost their cool because of the repeated delay.

“Just go off the field, get treatment, and then come back… This is what, the third time the physio has come in. Are we going to see the same thing over and over again?” Gavaskar had said frustrated on air during that match, and the broadcasters’ disappointment was further made clear by Shastri’s sly dig on Tuesday.