There was huge drama in the ninth match of the ILT20, 2025. Desert Vipers were batting first and it was the 16th over of the match where Vipers were 110/1 and Holden was struggling to get going. In the 16th over against Rashid Khan, no runs came off the third and fourth balls, and MI Emirates lost a review off the last of those when Pooran felt Holden had nicked the ball but the ball had only come to him off the pads. The fifth ball went for two.
Then the drama began.
In the sixth ball bowled by Rashid to Holden. Holden charges down the track and tries to go for a maximum, but misses the line completely as Rashid keeps it wide. He is so far down the pitch that he doesn’t even attempt to get back. Pooran has the ball, but isn’t interested in effecting the stumping. Holden returns to ground his bat.
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Oh! He did not stump him. Did not stump him,” the commentator says on the broadcast. “Wide is called. Could have stumped him by some distance.” Next ball, Rashid to Holden again. Quicker and flatter and at the stump and tries to heave but once again misses and another dot. And then came part two of the incident: Holden is retired out straightaway. Tactical, obviously. For MI Emirates, it would appear, keeping the slow-moving Holden in there made most sense. For Desert Vipers, calling him back was the better option. So was it a case of tactical genius or match fixing?
Holden walked off and was recorded as retired out, with Sam Curran walking in to take guard. Simron Hetmyer and Dan Lawrence combined to provide the Vipers a late burst, pushing the team’s total to 159/4 at the end of 20 overs, which was enough to beat the Emirates by one run.
As per ICC rules, there is no law forcing a keeper to complete a stumping. Pooran was free to decide that keeping a struggling batter at the crease is better for his team than actually dismissing him. The incident has been referred to as ‘tactical non-stumping’ in the cricket fraternity.
This incident has brought plenty of debates on social media with some fans calling it a tactical genius move while some section of fans calling it match fixing or going against spirit of the game. Desert Vipers ended up winning the thriller by just one run. 12 runs were needed of three balls and Rashid Khan smashed a six and a four. With two needed of the last ball, the non striker was run out and MI Emirates lost the game.
