IPL and controversy have always gone hand in hand in the history of the cash-rich league. Over the past 13 editions, at least every season has there been a decision that has changed the course of the match and the season for a particular franchise. Picking the top 5 among them is a hard task. While it was worked for some teams, it has worked against many others. The controversies have highlighted the discrepancy in the umpiring standards in the tournament and the quality of umpires as well.
Ahead of yet another IPL season, the second straight one in air air-tight bubble environment we get down to picking the top 5 controversial decisions in IPL history.
Top 5 controversial umpiring decision In IPL History:
#5 The Lasith Malinga No Ball
In a match between Mumbai Indians and Royal Challengers Bangalore in 2019, the umpires overlooked a no-ball in the final over which helped MI beat RCB in a crucial contest.
Led by a classy 48 from skipper Rohit Sharma and a blistering 14 ball 32* from Hardik Pandya, the Mumbai side posted a total of 187/8 on the board. The Bangalore side needed its batsmen to step up in a challenging run chase. And, the two batting wizards of RCB, Virat Kohli and Ab De Villiers went berserk on that day.
While Kohli scored 46 off 32 deliveries, De Villiers scored 70* off just 41 balls. But still, the side fell short by six runs in the final over. Shivam Dube was on strike on the final delivery of the over y Malings with the side needing seven to win.
Malinga bowled a no-ball which was overlooked by the umpires as Dube hit the ball to the long-on boundary and was caught by Rohit. The replays clearly showed that Malinga had overstepped but since the game was already over, the umpires were in no position to make the call then. That call by the on-field umpires was one of the highlights of the season.
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#4 Umpire Overturns Decision Seeing An Angry MS Dhoni
MS Dhoni is known as captain cool but in one of the IPL games last year, he became angry and which forced the on-field umpire Paul Riefell to overturn his initial decision.
Led by Shane Watson’s 38-ball 42 and a blazing 25* off just 10 deliveries by Ravindra Jadeja, Chennai Super Kings scored 167. In response, the SRH batsmen baring Kane Williamson (57) faltered to score the runs.
Meanwhile, in the second ball of the 19th over, Shardul Thakur bowled a delivery that was close to being wide. on-field umpire Paul Reiffel was going to call it wide but overturned his decision seeing an angry MS Dhoni. The CSK skipper was criticised for making a wrong influence on the game. A delivery that went past the wide line was not given as a wide, due to the pressure exerted by the CSK legend.
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#3 Wong Short-Run Call
It was the first match for Punjab Kings and Delhi Capitals in 2020. Also, the game saw the first instance of the short-run call deciding the fate of the game.
Batting first, Delhi scored 157/8 on the back of Marcus Stoinis’ 21-ball 53. In response, the Punjab chase was about one man Mayank Agarwal. He scored exactly half the runs, 89. The next highest run-scorer for the Punjab outfit was Krishnappa Gowtham, who scored 20. The Punjab side too finished on 157/8.
But then, a wrong short-run call was made off the third ball of the 19th over of the Punjab innings. Mayank Agarwal ran a couple off that delivery, but the umpire called a short run as he felt that Chris Jordan’s bat had not crossed the line. But then, replays showed that Jordan had completed the run, as the bat was clearly past the crease. This created a huge controversy, as this decision completely changed the result of the match.
This took the match to the Super over which was won by Delhi Capitals who later reached the finals as well. Meanwhile, the BCCI has decided to do away with short-run calls by the on-field umpires deciding short-run this year. Short-runs if any will be decided by the third umpire with the help of television replays.
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#2 SRH Lose After Umpire Ignores ‘Waist-High No-Ball’
Sunrisers Hyderabad lost a close contest to Chennai Super Kings by just four runs in 2018. This was after the leg-umpire overlooked the waist-high no-ball. On the second ball of the 17th over of the SRH innings, Shardul Thakur bowled a delivery that was above Williamson’s waist. But, to everyone’s surprise, the leg umpire declared that it was a fair delivery.
The leg umpire’s call turned out to be crucial as it led to SRH losing a game they should have won. Chennai batted first and scored 183 runs on the board on the back of Ambati Rayudu’s 79. In reply, the SRH side finished with a total of 178/6 in their allotted 20 overs and lost a closely fought contest despite Williamson’s classy 84.
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#1 The No-Ball That Caused a Stir
In a match between Royal Challengers Bangalore and Mumbai Indians in 2018, RCB lost the game due to yet another umpiring error. Mumbai batted first and piled up a colossal total of 213 runs on the board, with skipper Rohit Sharma scoring 94 off just 52 deliveries.
In reply, despite a brilliant 92* from Virat Kohli, the RCB could manage to score just 167. However, the turning point came in the 18th over of Banglore’s chase. Jasprit Bumrah bowled a short delivery, and Umesh Yadav swung the bat wildly. The ball took the outside edge of his bat and went straight to Rohit Sharma, who completed the catch.
The third umpire decided to check the no-ball in that case. The replays show that it was a fair delivery. However, the confusion was due to an altogether different reason. The third umpire had actually seen the replay of some other delivery, where Yadav was clearly seen standing at the opposite end (non-striker’s end) next to Bumrah.
Thus these are the top 5 controversial decisions in IPL history so far. A new season is around the corner and some more controversial decisions are around the corner as well.
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