North Zone suffer massive backlash for 'unsportsmaship behaviour' in Duleep Trophy semis

South Zone clinched a thriller against North Zone in the 2nd semi-final of the Duleep Trophy 2023 on Saturday. The match ended up stirring a massive debate around ‘Spirit of Cricket’ as North Zone used unusual tactics in a interrupt with South Zone’s momentum. Jayant Yadav-led North Zone took 53 minutes to bowl the last 5.5 overs but couldn’t bear any fruit.

3 Things You Need To Know

• Mayank Agarwal was declared the player of the match for his scores of 76 & 54
• West Zone reached the summit clash after drawing against Central Zone in the 1st semi-final
• South Zone and West Zone will now clash in the Duleep Trophy 2023 final starting on July 12

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‘Crazy that it was allowed’: Jayant Yadav-led North Zone endure backlash

Former India cricketer Dodda Ganesh took to his official Twitter handle on Sunday to drop his scathing remark on North Zone’s tactics. “I’m told the North Zone apparently took lots of time to bowl the last 4.1 overs of the game. How was this allowed in the first place? What were the umpires doing? Crazy that it was allowed to happen #DuleepTrophy,” said the former India cricketer.

What happened during North Zone vs South Zone, Duleep Trophy 2023 semi-finals?

Unusual scenes were witnessed during the semi-final match, which was stopped a total of 17 times due to rain across the four days of play. On the final day, South Zone required only 32 runs to win with six wickets in hand when play was slated to begin at 3:50 pm local time. With Tilak Varma and Ricky Bhui batting riding high on a partnership of 42 runs off 24 balls, they knew it was now or never was it seemed like rain could stop play at any moment.

With 24 runs to win, Bhui and Varma were dismissed in the space of two balls, which brought Washington Sundar and R Sai Kisone to the middle. Amid the back-to-back wickets, Jayant Yadav looked to be wasting time as the 33rd over took 10 minutes to be completed. The next over consumed as much time as bowlers were seen tying shoelaces, digging up their heels, and waiting for the field to be set. 

South Zone inched close to the win with every over, despite losing the wickets of Washington and Sasikanth. The Hanuma Vihari-led side finally clinched victory in the 37th over. Speaking after the match Vihari said he would have done the same thing if he was the opposition captain.

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What else has been said?

"We have come across a lot of games where teams are trying to delay the final few overs to take advantage, which is not wrong," Vihari said after the day's play. "Even if I was the captain, I would have done the same thing… so anything to win, [but] to a point. I think it was fair. Overall, I wouldn't complain." Meanwhile, South Zone will now face West Zone in the Duleep Trophy 2023 final from July 12 onwards.