Delhi Capitals skipper Rishabh Pant was denied a game-changing referral against a Sunil Narine nick when the batter was on 24 during the DC-KKR clash after the on-field umpires suggested the timer had run out. Replays, however, suggest otherwise.

Narine opened the innings and had a quiet start, scoring eight in his first nine balls before unleashing himself in Ishant Sharma’s over. The West Indian smashed the first three balls of the fourth over for two successive sixes and a four before the Indian quick bowled a short ball angled into the left-hander from around the wicket.

Narine looked to go for a wild hack, but missed, as the ball settled into Pant’s gloves. Pant was in a dilemma over whether he had edged it but went up for the DRS. He first made a half-hearted ‘T’, signalling he was taking the DRS, when one second out of the 15 allowed to the fielding side to refer a decision was left in the ticker, before making a more prominent signal just as the time ran out.

The umpires seemingly did not spot the first signal and thus, denied him the referral, stating the timer had ticked over.

Appendix D 3.2.2 of the IPL Playing Conditions states, “The total time elapsed between the ball becoming dead and the review request being made shall be no more than 15 seconds. The bowler’s end umpire shall provide the relevant player with a prompt after 10 seconds if the request has not been made at that time and the player shall request the review immediately thereafter. If the on-field umpires believe that a request has not been made within the 15-second time limit, they shall decline the request for a Player Review.”

Article 3.2.1 of the Playing Conditions also highlights how the ‘T’ sign should be made while asking for the DRS. “The request shall be made by the player making a ‘T’ sign with both forearms at head height.”

While the above clause is mentioned in the IPL rulebook, it is not often that captains make the ‘T’ gesture at head height, with Pant recently being coaxed into taking a DRS by Kuldeep Yadav by making a signal near his chest. The umpire had obliged on that occasion.

It is worth noting, however, that the DRS timer shown on the screen is not always accurate and that the 15 seconds could have been up while visuals showed a second was still left to take the DRS.

Replays later suggested that Narine had indeed edged the ball and would have been dismissed if Delhi had gone up for the DRS earlier. It proved to be a game-changing moment as Narine added 61 more runs in just 27 balls as KKR raced away to 162 in 12 overs. He was eventually dismissed for 85, his career-best T20 score.

Subscribe to the Wisden Cricket YouTube channel for post-match analysis, player interviews, and much more.