'Who do they think they are?': Kevin Pietersen slams Rishabh Pant & Co. after no-ball fiasco against RR

Former England captain Kevin Pietersen has slammed Delhi Capitals (DC) skipper Rishabh Pant, assistant coach Pravin Amre and others for their 'unacceptable' behaviour after a controversial no-ball call during their side's clash against Rajasthan Royals (RR) in IPL 2022 on Friday.

DC's assistant coach Amre had stormed onto the field to protest against the on-field umpire's call after a no-ball call went RR's way in the last over of the match. Rovman Powell was out batting in the middle with Kuldeep Yadav in the final over of DC's 218-run chase when the incident stole the limelight.

With 36 required off the last over, Powell struck twosixes off the first two deliveries from Obed McCoy in the 20th overbefore the West Indies fast bowler bowled an above waist-height full-toss which was also dispatched for a six. While it appeared to be a clear no-ball, the on-field umpire adjudged it a legal delivery triggering animatic reactions from the DC camp.

After it was not given a no-ball, Powell signalled the umpire to check with the third umpire.DC skipper, Pant and all-rounder Shardul Thakur were seen furious in the dugout as Pant even went on to signal his batters to leave the field in protest. However, coach Amre was then sent on the field to talk with the umpires in protest against the no-ball call.

While many agreed it was an error on the umpire's part as it was a clear no-ball, several former cricketers and experts criticised Delhi Capitals for their actions. Pietersen lashed out at Pant, Amre and others and said what he saw from them was not good for the game of cricket.

"I don’t think that would have happened if Ricky Ponting was there. I think Jos Buttler had every right to walk up to Rishabh Pant and say ‘what on earth are you doing?’ to send one of their coaches onto the field and think that was the correct behaviour," said Pietersen on Star Sports.

“We play the gentleman’s game. People make mistakes. How many times have we nicked off or not nicked off and been given out? Been given out LBW when we were not out? Myself and Swanny have played the great game for 20 odd years. And you see stuff like we have seen in the last 30 minutes, it’s not good for the game of cricket. It’s not good at all.

“I don’t know who they think they are but that was a mistake, that was a huge, huge mistake.

“The biggest mistake is the coach running onto the field and talking to the umpire. I just do not understand the coach, he is a senior figure in those rooms. Rishabh Pant was calling them off. They wanted to walk off. For me, that was unacceptable and I hope I never ever see that again in the game of cricket because that’s not why we play cricket and not how we play cricket,” he added.

DC head coach Ricky Ponting had missed the game as he was in quarantine after one of his family members tested positive for COVID-19. Despite DC's animated protest, the no-ball decision stood as they went on to lose the game by 15 runs after Powell only managed 2 runs off the next threeballs.

IPL Governing Council reprimanded Pant, Amre and Shardul for their behaviour by imposing fines on them. While Pant and Amre were docked 100% of their match fees, Shardul was fined 50% of his match fees. Amre has also been banned for one game by the IPL Governing Council.