Kolkata Knight Riders have undoubtedly been one of the most entertaining teams in the UAE leg of IPL 2021 so far, having been involved in some thrilling matches. After losing out a nail-biter against Chennai Super Kings while defending, Eoin Morgan’s side had a chance to redeem themselves with a better display on the field against Punjab Kings on Friday. While they missed a few catches which took the match away from them, there was one moment when it looked like the catch was taken cleanly but the third umpire thought otherwise.
It all happened in the 19th over of the innings when KL Rahul smashed a ball off Shivam Mavi towards the mid-wicket region. Rahul Tripathi came running towards it and put on a brilliant dive to complete a remarkable catch. It looked like a fair catch from the naked eye but the decision was referred to the third umpire.
𝐎𝐔𝐓 or 𝐍𝐎𝐓 𝐎𝐔𝐓 – What do you think? 🤔#KKRvPBKS #VIVOIPL #IPL2021 pic.twitter.com/HbnkgHdHXb
— Star Sports (@StarSportsIndia) October 1, 2021
Was that out or not-out?
As the replays flashed on big screen, the third umpire – Anil Dandekar – was presented with 4-5 angles to make a decision. There was hardly any angle which showed the ball touching the ground as Tripathi had his fingers underneath the ball. But much to everyone’s surprise, the third umpire deemed it as not out claiming that he could see the ball in contact with the ground.
It was a crucial moment in the game as KL Rahul survived and hit a significant boundary couple of deliveries later to put Punjab Kings in the driving seat. Eventually, Shahrukh Khan completed the job as PBKS won the match by 5 wickets, with 3 balls remaining.
Talking about the incident after the match, former England off-spinner Graeme Swann said, “The third umpire looked at it from various angles and it looked out from all. It’s terrible umpiring.” Former KKR skipper Gautam Gambhir also expressed his displeasure on the decision and admitted that it was a shocker. “These kind of shockers can’t happen at this level in IPL,” added Gambhir.
The netizens were also very disappointment with the decision as they flooded Twitter with posts around the same, claiming that Rahul Tripathi was robbed of what could have been one of the best catches of the season.
Check out the reactions:
@rahultripathi has been robbed by some ridiculous decision by the umpire. To me this is the catch of the tournament so far. Very poor!! #IPL2021 #KKRvPBKS
— Amarpal Singh (@ImAmaR13) October 1, 2021
Rahul Tripathi got robbed of the best catch of the tournament.
Those fingers were underneath the ball.@tripathirahul52#KKRvPBKS #IPL2021#KKR— HMG 🔥🚩 (@i_am_HMG) October 1, 2021
clear out! third umpire sucks #rahultripathi #tripathi
— SuperChat YT (@aarkam34) October 1, 2021
It was a fare catch by Rahul Tripathi harsh decision by 3rd umpire 🥲🥲 #KKR #KKRvPBKS #rahultripathi @IPL
— Sariyansh Mehta (@SariyanshM) October 1, 2021
Is this really 3rd umpiring?
3 angles are conclusively pointing that the ball in in the hands of #rahultripathi . Now umpire is giving Not Out.
😡😡😠😠 #BCCI should ban the umpire for upcoming matches in this IPL season.
— SB , I ❤️ Vi (@sb_voice) October 1, 2021
Terrible decision at such an important point of the match.
Can cost qualification.
Great catch,Rahul Tripathi. 👏#KKR #KKRvPBKS #PBKSvKKR #PBKS— Shrestha Srivastava (@ShresthaSri14) October 1, 2021
Irrespective of the result it was clearly out😲#KKRvPBKS #PBKSvKKR KL Rahul Tripathi
— KOSH GUPTA 🇮🇳 (@koshgupta) October 1, 2021
Joke of a third umpire! That was a brilliant piece of catching, phenomenal athleticism from Rahul Tripathi.
— Rohan Sengupta (@GarryDevilDada) October 1, 2021
Very wrong third umpiring, that was a perfect catch of #RahulTripathi and seriously this is one of the worst umpiring in IPL history. #KLRahul was out. #KKRvPBKS
— Shivendra Singh Parmar (@TheShivendra_) October 1, 2021
Anticipating that Kolkata Knight Riders will be reviewing Rahul Tripathi's catch later and filing their thoughts officially with match referee.#PBKSvKKR #KKRvPBKS #IPL2021 #VIVOIPL @unacademy #AskTheExpert
— AnuP 🇮🇳📽 (@anupsjaiswal) October 1, 2021
That should be given out by empire on Rahul Tripathi catch .. Can be the match changer. THIS IS TOTALLY DISAPPOINTING#KKRvPBKS
— Ruchi (@ruchiyadavvv) October 1, 2021
