'Ve sachhe cricket fans nahi hai' - Fans react as LSG fielding coach Jonty Rhodes claims Hyderabad crowd hit Prerak Mankad on head

SRH vs LSG IPL 2023 (Source: Twitter)

Match 58 of the Indian Premier League (IPL) 2023 between Sunrisers Hyderabad (SRH) and Lucknow Super Giants (LSG) witnessed some ugly scenes which halted play for a while. At the close of the first innings of Saturday's afternoon match at the Rajiv Gandhi International Stadium, the Hyderabad crowd became unruly, and the umpires and players huddled near the LSG dugout until all was settled.

The controversial moment started when the third umpire overturned a no-ball decision in the 19th over of the SRH innings. LSG pacer Avesh Khan bowled a high full-toss, which Abdul Samad hit for a boundary but was reviewed for a no-ball. Despite the ball tracker showing the ball going over the waist, the umpire did not bother to reverse the on-field ruling.

The wrong decision displeased Heinrich Klaasen, the LSG camp and also the 'Orange Army' who started throwing nuts and bolts to the ground. Earlier, there were reports that spectators threw objects towards the LSG dugout, but their fielding coach, Jonty Rhodes, took to Twitter to clarify it was a 'direct hit' on Lucknow batter Prerak Mankad's head.

“Not at the dugout, but at the players. They hit Prerak Mankad on the head while he was fielding at long on," the former South African cricketer tweeted.

Not at the dugout, but at the players. They hit Prerak Mankad on the head while he was fielding at long on. #noton https://t.co/4yxmuXh7ZF

— Jonty Rhodes (@JontyRhodes8) May 13, 2023

Very disappointed, that broke our momentum: Klaasen

Klaasen was unhappy with the umpiring, which ruled him out on a dubious ruling, but said it was part of the game, adding that what the crowd did was disappointing and ruined their momentum.

"Disappointed with the crowd. That’s not what you want at the venue. Very disappointed (because) that broke our momentum. Not a great umpiring decision being made there, but it’s part of the game,” the right-hander said.

Talking about the match, LSG won by seven wickets and kept their IPL 2023 playoff hopes alive, while it seems almost impossible for SRH to make it to the next round. Batting first, SRH posted 182-6 in 20 overs on the back of Klaasen's 29-ball 47 and a collective contribution from other batters. However, LSG responded in style to cross the finish line in 19.2 overs thanks to some incredible hitting from Mankad, Marcus Stoinis and Nicholas Pooran.

Here's how fans reacted to Jonty Rhodes' statement: 

This is horrifying

Those ppls should be banned from entering the stadium

— Aditya (@Adityaxyz25) May 13, 2023

Kohli deserve better fans like Dhoni Sachin

— Nikhhiiil (@iamnr001) May 13, 2023

Prerak Mankad gave befitting reply!

— Nath Mishra (@nageshwarnath89) May 14, 2023

That’s terrible and the reason why true fans are sometimes restricted to meet their fav players 💔

— Tushar Rane (@tushnemma) May 14, 2023

Don't know how the security could be so lax. When I watched games at the Wankhede they didn't even allow us to carry coins. A big lapse by the security persons.

— Prasad Rajguru (@PrasadRajguru1) May 13, 2023

If crowd do this type of things then simply that stadium could get banned from hosting ipl and international matches. It's their loss if they do this type of behavior.

— Shrey (@Shrey__123) May 13, 2023

What a security lapse, how could they allow nuts and bolts..at Mohali they don't even allow flags with sticks...they throw the sticks, one can only carry flags...

— Gagan Chawla (@toecrushrzzz) May 13, 2023

Hyderabad should not be allowed to host IPL matches

— drjayantisingh (@drjayantisingh1) May 13, 2023

That’s seriously very bad.. they forgot this is indian cricket league and I feel they are not true cricket fans

— Nitin jain(Sachinsuperfan) (@NitinSachinist) May 13, 2023

Unpopular opinion: If ticket prices are too low, you will have an unruly crowd.

— r/RCB (@rcb_reddit) May 13, 2023

This is really bad. Unexpected and unethical behaviour

— msd_stan (@bdrijalab) May 13, 2023