In a bizarre sequence of events, Mumbai Indians batter Nehal Wadhera was involved in two mix-ups off successive balls – resulting in both batters being at the same end twice – the first one ending up in a run out, against Gujarat Titans in today’s IPL 2023 match.

Mumbai fell well short, but Wadhera’s late resistance provided them with some sort of comfort in an otherwise forgettable innings. However, towards the end of his knock, Wadhera seemed to back himself far more than his batting partners, leading to two rather uncomfortable-looking mix-ups, first with Piyush Chawla and then with Arjun Tendulkar.

At the end of the 17th over, Mumbai were on 135-6, miles behind their target of 208. Off the first ball, Chawla let a Mohit Sharma delivery go, hoping for a wide call. When he turned around, Wadhera had already sprinted towards him for a suicidal single, yelling bhaag (run), even physically nudging Chawla out of his crease. Wicketkeeper Wriddhiman Saha, meanwhile, easily collected and threw the ball to Mohit, who took his time to flick the bails. Chawla, visibly irritated, walked away, having been sacrificed by his young teammate.

Arjun Tendulkar, batting for the first time in IPL, walked in next and nearly received the same treatment.

Next ball, Wadhera pulled a delivery behind square for what seemed to be an easy single. He gestured at Tendulkar, refusing a single, but Tendulkar didn’t care – he ran to the other side, leaving both batters at the same end. It was Wadhera who was frustrated this time, reluctantly setting off for a single, and somehow had enough time to change ends.

https://twitter.com/iVikramRajput/status/1650917664196546560

Wadhera was seemingly backing his own hitting abilities over his partner’s – Wadhera’s strike rate in four T20 innings is 171.79, while Tendulkar’s in six innings is 86.84.

The extended confusion only ended when Wadhera was dismissed two balls later, trying to ramp Mohit Sharma but not going further than short fine leg. Mumbai ended up losing by 55 runs, and are now seventh on the points table.

Watch the Chawla dismissal here: