IPL 2019: Mohammad Kaif Accuses Teams Of Cheating

Delhi Capitals assistant coach Mohammad Kaif has claimed that teams are resorting to unfair practises to gain an advantage on the field.

If the past eleven seasons of the Indian Premier League (IPL) has taught every team of something then it to not leave things for the very end. Most of the highly successful teams in the league have always delivered right from the start. And it seems like the teams have learnt from the past experiences as the first week-and-a-half of the IPL was as competitive as it could get. High-scoring thrillers, super overs, collapses, controversies – the ongoing edition of the league has already seen so much.

R Ashwin Mankading Jos Buttler, Jonny Bairstow and David Warner scoring centuries in the same game, Kagiso Rabada’s super-over heroics, Andre Russell’s explosive batting, Prithvi Shaw’s 99, Sam Curran’s 99 – the list will just keep getting longer if one starts mentioning about the notable incidents and performances from the last few days. But amidst all this, Mohammad Kaif has sensed something foul.

The former India batsman has claimed that the teams are getting involved in some ‘unfair practices’ to get the upper hand.

He has said that teams like Kolkata Knight Riders and Kings XI Punjab are bringing in fitter, more agile fielders to replace poor fielders during the games which the umpires are failing to spot.

“It is right that most matches are finishing close to midnight. Teams are bringing in good fielders and replacing them with slow ones. I think the umpires should look at the changes that the teams are making,” Mohammad Kaif told media.

“For example, DC versus KKR match, (Andrew) Russell went out, Rinku Singh came to field. Piyush Chawla quickly bowled his four overs and went out and Rinku again came back.”

“We have seen that in the last Punjab game as well. Sarfaraz Khan didn’t come to field after being hit on the gloves. I don’t know if he is injured. Karun Nair came to field and he took a good catch at long on of Ingram,” Kaif explained further.

Kaif also made it clear that the Delhi Capitals team management will bring the issue to the umpires’ notice.

“Teams are playing smart and making changes which are not right to me. We will bring it up with the umpires,” added the former Indian cricketer.

This is a serious issue. Few teams misusing the substitution rule, getting swift fielders on the field for the not so swift ones and trying to gain undue advantage. https://t.co/ZRn4j0kAwk

— Mohammad Kaif (@MohammadKaif) April 3, 2019

Delhi Capitals, meanwhile, will be looking to return to winning ways when they take on Sunrisers Hyderabad on Thursday. Delhi had suffered a crushing 14-run loss against Kings XI Punjab in their previous game where they had lost their last 7 wickets for just 8 runs.