David Warner was called back from the boundary rope after the umpire called a no ball because Rajasthan Royals had fewer than four fielders inside the circle.

The incident occurred during Delhi Capitals’ third league game, which was taking place at Guwahati. They were chasing 200 against Rajasthan Royals and after losing two wickets in the opening over of the chase, their hopes rested on their skipper. On the fifth ball of the 17th over, it seemed that Yuzvendra Chahal had gotten the better of the Delhi Capitals captain.

The leg-spinner bowled the ball on a good length on off stump. Warner, who had no option but to attack with the required run rate at more than 20 runs per over, backed away and tried to go over extra cover. He did not middle his shot, however, and hit it straight to Yashasvi Jaiswal at extra cover. It seemed a straightforward dismissal at first, until the umpires intervened and adjudged that Jaiswal was outside the circle at the point of delivery.

Jaiswal, because he was not inside the circle at the time of delivery, became the sixth fielder outside the 30-yard ring. This was directly in contravention of section 28.7.5 of the IPL 2023 Match Playing Conditions, which stipulate that teams can have a maximum of five fielders outside the circle after the powerplay.

Section 28.7.8 of the IPL 2023 Match Playing Conditions further states that any such transgression will lead to the striker’s end umpire signalling a No ball. Ravichandran Ashwin, however, was not very pleased with the decision and was seen remonstrating with the umpire.

Warner’s reprieve did not matter much in the grand scheme of things. He was dismissed a couple of overs later when Chahal trapped him lbw. The Australian top-scored for his side with 65 but those runs came off 55 balls, which considering Delhi Capitals were chasing 200, was not nearly enough.