Kolkata Knight Riders may have won last nights eliminator 1, but the fashion in which they won made umpteen people unhappy, as the full match was not played. It was a virtual quarter final for KKR. Their famed boss Shahrukh Khan was there in the stands for the match rooting for his team. KKR won the toss and asked SRH to take first strike. KKR bowled exceptionally well to tame SRH to a paltry 128. The target seemed to be a walk in the park for the KKR batsman, but that was not to be as the rain-gods had something else in store for them. It started drizzling at 9:40 pm as the SRH innings ended. Everybody in the ground was hoping it is just a passing shown, but no, it was a nagging one. The rain was not thick but even the drizzle will not allow players to take the ground.
Then came the revision of timings which said, the full 20-overs can be played only if the game starts at 11:52. Mind you that is two-hours and fifteen minutes from the time the game was halted. The revised version also gave a provision for a truncated game, if it starts at 1:00 am. Five overs to be played and KKR would need 41 off 5 overs. If that also did not happen it would start at 1:25 am, if the rain stops for a over each. Now, this is unfair for many reasons.
Why the rules are weird
1: No one apart from the die-hard fans would be awake till 1:30 am.
2: There are kids, please be considerate towards them, they may be having to go to school next day.
3: It is unfair on the players to be playing at 1:30 am.
4: Why not have a reserve day, considering it is an important game
5: If one innings is over, you can surely comeback next day and complete the remainder of the game.
Glad on the winning side tonite. But play offs need to have an extra day in case of an abandoned match. Ami KKR onwards with @GautamGambhir
— Shah Rukh Khan (@iamsrk) May 17, 2017
Satisfying win but my heart goes out 2 @SunRisers,tough 2 fathom such a loss. U r a champion side @VVSLaxman281 @YUVSTRONG12 @davidwarner31
— Gautam Gambhir (@GautamGambhir) May 18, 2017
Congratulations to @KKRiders deserved to win though a bit unlucky with a short game outstanding team effort to qualify again to the fans
— yuvraj singh (@YUVSTRONG12) May 18, 2017
We do understand all the revenue and advertisers and their stakes but one has to take care of the players for the betterment of the game. Now, with a new-set of five years starting next year, it is high-time the management takes into consideration all these factors to make the viewing even more better.
