Watch: Sanju Samson's unusual DRS protest against umpire's wide call sparks debate in KKR vs RR IPL match

Royals captain Sanju Samson decided to go for a review when the ball was miles away from the bat. Samson's expression and his way of taking the DRS suggested that he might have done that as a mark of protest more than genuinely thinking about a wicket.

The 19th over of the Kolkata Knight Riders vs Rajasthan Royals match at Wankhede Stadium in Mumbai was full of drama. Frustrated by the on-field umpire's wide calls despite considerable movement from the batter on a couple of occasions, Royals captain Sanju Samson decided to go for a review when the ball was miles away from the bat. Samson's expression and his way of taking the DRS suggested that he might have done that as a mark of protest more than genuinely thinking about a wicket.

Sanju Samson took a DRS after umpire called a Prasidh Krishna delivery a wide

It all transpired 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 km/h 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 annoyed Samson then did something which is rarely seen on the cricket field but could be a matter of debate.

The RR skipper 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.

Getting a wicket, however, was never on Samson's mind as the replays also conveyed that the wide call was a hash one as Rinku had shuffled across his stumps and could have made contact with the ball easily.

Watch Video: Sanju Samson asks for DRS to protest against umpire's wide call

The drama did not end there. In the last ball of the over Krishna, this time to Rana, went wide again. The KKR left-hander walked across his stumps but missed the ball. Umpire Pandit adjudged it as wide again. This time the umpire was perhaps right in his call as Krishna's delivery was even beyond the white return crease and nearly out of the playing area. But Samson was having none of it. He decided to have a word with the umpire and the latter was seen explaining the rationale behind his wide calls to the RR captain and wicket-keeper.

KKR won the match with a six in the first ball of the last over. Rinku Singh played a decisive innings of 42 not out off 23 balls and Rana remained unbeaten on 48 off 37 as KKR chased down RR's 153-run target with 7 wickets in the bank to keep their playoff hopes alive.

"The wicket was a bit slow, but they also bowled really well but with the kind of batting we had, would have liked a few more boundaries at the end and finish off a bit better. I think we were short by 15-20 runs," Samson said after the match.