Irked Chhattisgarh skipper Mohd Kaif stages walk-out

Mohammad Kaif

Kolkata: Former India cricketer and Chhattisgarh captain Mohammad Kaif yesterday wanted to pull out of their Group D encounter against Karnataka at the Eden Gardens after embroiling in a tiff with the umpire regarding the dismissal of opener Mayank Agarwal.

Controversy strikes
It was learnt from sources that the match referee had to intervene after eight minutes of play was wasted with Kaif finally deciding to change his stance and take to the ground again.

It all started after Chhattisgarh - out of reckoning for qualifying to the last eight stage - set a target of 200 for Karnataka led by India regular Manish Pandey. In the second innings, a Omkar Verma delivery was nicked by Agarwal batting on one, which wicketkeeper Manoj Singh and Kaif standing at first slip went for.

While Kaif claimed he took the catch cleanly, the leg umpire adjudged Agarwal not out forcing Kaif to lose his cool and ask how the leg umpire could see a right hander edging a ball to first slip.

Agarwal's super 66
While Agarwal went on to score a match-winning 66 off 76 balls, Kaif decided to leave the field immediately after the incident. He came back later on to finish the tie.

The incident might draw the ire of the match referee and Kaif could be penalised for halting the play.