'Sanju Samson was mocking the umpire,' says Daniel Vettori, calls for DRS to be allowed for wides

Daniel Vettori said that he could understand Rajasthan Royals captain Sanju Samson's frustration while stating that the umpire did make a few good calls in their match against the Kolkata Knight Riders.

There was no question that Sanju Samson was mocking the umpire when he asked for a DRS to a delivery that was called wide during Rajasthan Royals' Indian Premier League (IPL) match on Monday against the Kolkata Knight Riders, former New Zealand captain Daniel Vettori has said. Vettori, however, said that Samson should not be penalised as his frustration was understandable, despite stating that the umpire made a few good calls on the night.

Vettori said that he understood Samson's frustration

Vettori also said that the decision review system should be extended to allow captains to review wide calls as well.

“He was mocking the umpire, I don't think there was any thought of it actually being out,” said Vettori on ESPNCricinfo while letting out a laugh.

“The player should be able to decide in these crucial matters. Today it always looked like KKR are going to win but we have sat here so many times and seen decisions go against bowlers that are so close and the umpires got it wrong. Players should have some avenue towards rectifying that mistake. That is why the DRS was brought in. I would like to see that happen. And players are very good judges of that. They get it right more often than not," said Vettori.

The incident occurred in the penultimate over of KKR's chase when RR bowler Prasidh Krishna was clearly given a plan of bowling outside the off-stump to both KKR left-handers Nitish Rana and Rinku Singh. In the third ball, Prasidh slipped a 144 kmph full delivery wide outside the off-stump and Rinku Singh failed to make contact. But because the left-hander was in his normal striking position, umpire Nitin Pandit adjudged it as a wide. Needless to say, the call did not please Samson.

After conceding a boundary from the next due to a misfield at mid-off from Trent Boult, Krishna pitched it short and wide to Rinku, who shuffled across but failed to make contact. Surprisingly, umpire Pandit signalled wide again. A visibly frustrated Samson then went for a DRS despite knowing very well that Rinku's bat was nowhere near the ball. Umpire Pandit asked Samson again whether he really wanted to go for the DRS and Samson replied in the affirmative. Replays confirmed that there was a daylight difference between the bat and ball, RR lost a review.

“The umpire got it 50 per cent of the time and Sanju Samson got it right 50 per cent of the time. When it builds up like that you can see the frustration. The umpire made a couple of very good calls and I thought he missed a couple as well. That is the element of human nature that we have come to embrace in the game of cricket. It brings out the personality. Sanju was probably just frustrated. We are talking about a couple of inches here and there but I don't think he should be penalised in anyway for venting that frustration. Likewise, I think the umpire did a pretty good job,” said Vettori.