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Watch: Duleep Trophy semi-final triggers 'spirit of cricket' debate as Sai Kishore shatters crazy time wasting tactics
North Zone came under criticism for their time wasting tactic on the final day of their semi-final against South in the Duleep Trophy.
The final day of the Duleep Trophy semi-final between North and South Zone saw drama unfolding in the final session, as the former, led by Jayant Yadav, resorted to time wasting tactics to prevent South from winning. North Zone had taken a three-run lead in the first innings, that would have been enough for them to qualify for the final had they succeeded in drawing the tie. However, South eventually prevailed with their bowling all-rounder R Sai Kishore hitting the winning runs.
According to a Times Now report, North Zone bowled only 5.5 overs in almost 53 minutes after the game restarted following a rain delay in the final session. While such tactic isn't uncommon in Indian cricket, the act from North Zone did spark outrage on social media, given the enormity of the clash.
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In fact, former India player Dodda Ganesh took to his official Twitter account to bash the “unsportsmanlike” behavior from North Zone, and further demanded measures to ensure such tactics don't com into place in future.
“Well done guys. A great win finally despite North Zone’s time-wasting tactics. Hopefully going forward the men at the helm take measures to curb the unsportsmanship behaviour #DuleepTrophy,” he wrote.
Sai Kishore helped South Zone survive the tactics and book a place in the final, though, as he fittingly finished the heated clash with a six. The passionate celebrations right after the shot from Sai Kishore summed up the tension on the field.
Watch:
South Zone captain Hanuma Vihari, however, sided with his North Zone counterpart over the deployed time-wasting tactics. While he did invoke the ‘spirit of cricket’ argument in his post-match comments, Vihari admitted he would do the same if he were the North Zone captain in the situation.
“I’ve come across many games in domestic cricket where teams delay the over rate in the final session. This is not wrong on their part. Some may say that this is not in the spirit of the game, but I would have done the same thing if I was the North captain,” Vihari said, as quoted by Sportstar.
