Sunrisers Hyderabad captain Pat Cummins opted not to appeal for an ‘obstructing the field’ dismissal after Chennai Super Kings’ Ravindra Jadeja came in the way of bowler Bhuvneshwar Kumar’s return throw during today’s IPL 2024 match.

The incident occurred in the 19th over of CSK’s innings, when Jadeja dug out a yorker back to Bhuvneshwar. The bowler fired it back to the stumps with the batter having advanced out of his crease, attempting to effect a direct hit. Jadeja turned around in evasive action and copped a painful blow on his back.

Jadeja immediately turned around and spread his arms as if to protest the throw; umpires Rohan Pandit and Yashwant Barde, meanwhile, converged to debate whether the decision should be sent upstairs. However, Cummins then clarified with the on-field umpires that he did not want the decision to be referred upstairs, allowing Jadeja to resume batting.

He remained unbeaten till the end, finishing on 31 off 23, with MS Dhoni at the other end.

CSK have made 165-5 against SRH with only Shivam Dube scoring more than 35.

Will it be enough? #IPL2024 #CSKvsSRH pic.twitter.com/rAEQdKS1AM

— Wisden India (@WisdenIndia) April 5, 2024

According to clause 37.1.1 of the Obstructing the Field Law, “Either batter is out Obstructing the field if, except in the circumstances of 37.2, and while the ball is in play, he/she wilfully attempts to obstruct or distract the fielding side by word or action.”

However, a batter shall not out be out obstructing the field “if the obstruction or distraction is accidental, or the obstruction is in order to avoid injury”.

The incident was, in some ways, similar to a 2015 England-Australia ODI – a game Cummins was part of – when Ben Stokes was given out obstructing the field after bowler Mitchell Starc fired a throw back at him. The difference was that Stokes used his hand to stop the ball, while being out of his crease. Back then, though, skipper Steve Smith went ahead with the appeal, and Stokes was given out, sparking a ‘Spirit of Cricket’ debate.