Sunrisers Hyderabad (SRH) skipper David Warner was distraught after he was given out on inconclusive evidence as the ball went past his gloves and clothes at the same time, creating furore amongst the commentators and viewers.
The incident took place on the fourth ball of the last over of the powerplay of Sunrisers’ innings against the Royal Challengers Bangalore (RCB) in the Eliminator.
The Mohammed Siraj delivery cut sharply in to Warner and went into the wicketkeeper AB de Villiers’ gloves. On the way, the ball looked to have touched something, either the glove or his trousers. But it was not clear.
RCB team appealed but the umpire S Ravi didn’t give him out. After a conversation with his bowler and the wicket-keeper, Virat Kohli went for the review.
After referring it upstairs, the TV umpire Virender Sharma took ages to give the decision as the evidence he and the entire world got was inconclusive to arrive at any decision.
The ball, after passing Warner’s gloves, looked like it touched both the gloves and his clothes at the same time. However, the umpire, after going through many replays, went against the on-field decision as he thought that before hitting Warner’s pants, it took a little knick of the gloves.
Commentator Pommie Mbangwa immediately criticised the decision saying it should have been not out.
“Since the evidence was not conclusive and the on-field decision was not out, it should not have been given out,” Mbangwa said on air.
However, soon after that he said that this was a decision that could have gone either way depending on what people think.
However, former India captain Sunil Gavaskar, who was commentating with Mbangwa, ended the controversy on TV saying the umpire's decision needs to be respected.
Netizens, too, weren’t pleased with the decision as the evidence that everyone saw was inconclusive and such decisions generally go in the batsman’s favour. Moreover, the on-field decision was not out and when the third umpires don’t get enough conclusive evidence to overturn the decision, it should have remained the same way.
Also, being it a knockout game, the users on Twitter suggested that this decision could have a big say in determining the result of the game since Warner can be the difference between winning and losing.
Here are some of the reactions:
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