The controversial reversal of Dinesh Karthik‘s dismissal after a review during the IPL 2024 Eliminator between RR and RCB left Kumar Sangakkara livid in the RR dugout and drew criticism from the commentators.
RCB were put into bat by RR after losing the toss. Trent Boult bowled a brilliant new ball spell of 1-6 in three overs to not let RCB get off to a flyer. The spin duo of R Ashwin and Yuzvendra Chahal then choked RCB through the middle as they were not able to get going.
At the end of 14 overs, RCB were 116-4 with Rajat Patidar and Mahipal Lomror at the crease. Avesh Khan came on to bowl the 15th over and removed Patidar on the second ball with a back of length ball that was hit straight to mid-off.
The very next ball, he trapped new batter Dinesh Karthik plumb in front. The umpire didn’t need much time to raise his finger, but Karthik reviewed the decision after a brief discussion with his partner.
Controversial DRS reversal
The replays showed that Karthik’s bat brushed his pad, producing a sound that was caught on UltraEdge. There wasn’t conclusive evidence of the ball hitting the inside edge before striking the pad, though.
The TV umpire, however, didn’t spend much time going through the replays and adjudged that the sound waves visible on UltraEdge were proof enough that the ball had touched the inside edge on its way to the pad. Consequently, he reversed the on-field call and gave Karthik not out.
Sangakkara fuming, commentators surprised
The decision left the RR camp frustrated. Kumar Sangakkara, the RR director of cricket, was seen moving around angrily in the dugout, presumably looking for a match official to ask for an explanation for the not out call.
“Kumar Sangakkara wants to have a meeting with the umpires immediately,” Ian Bishop called on air. Sunil Gavaskar, also on commentary at that point along with Kevin Pietersen, said that it “could be a game changing decision”.
“It looks to me that the bat has hit the pads,” Gavaskar said. “Yes, the bat has hit the pad, the ball is in front of the bat. So the bat has hit the pad, the bat has not hit the ball.”
Out or not out. What's your decision? 🤔
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Pietersen agreed with Gavaskar: “You can see the frustration in the bowling team. Oh my goodness! What about that for a moment in this game… Kumar Sangakkara, you don’t really see him get as animated. He is livid.”
The reprieve didn’t cost RR much though as Karthik was only able to add 11 runs from the 13 balls he faced. Avesh eventually dismissed him in the 19th over, caught at cover as RCB finished at 172-8 from their 20 overs.
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