Picture Credit: PCB/PSL
The playoff stages of Pakistan Super League 2021 kicked off on Monday with two of the most impressive teams - Islamabad United and Multan Sultans - locking horns with each other. After Sultans' skipper Mohammad Rizwan won the toss, he opted to bat first as putting runs on the board in the big match is always an advantage, especially on the slowish tracks in Abu Dhabi.
While it was a great battle between the bat and ball in first 10 overs, it were the umpires who were the talking point because of some errors in judgement. The umpiring duo of Ahsan Raza and Rashid Riaz came under the scrutiny after they gave some wrong decisions in such a crucial match.
Rizwan dismissed after a successful review by United
The whole sequence of events started in 2nd over as Akif Javed bowled a delivery way down the leg side to Mohammad Rizwan who tried to play a big heave over fine leg. He missed the ball and keeper caught it as United made a valiant appeal. The umpire turned down the appeal as the decision was reviewed where the replays showed a spike when the ball passed Rizwan's gloves as the decision was overturned.
Another umpiring decision gets overturned
Few overs later, Shadab Khan trapped Rilee Rossouw in front but the umpire was not interested. The United skipper took another DRS and it showed three reds as Shadab got his second wicket of the over. Rossouw was dismissed on 0 as Sultans found themselves in a state of bother.
Fans unhappy with umpiring errors
In the next over only, there was another umpiring blunder as Johnson Charles missed a pull shot off Mohammad Wasim Jr as the ball went into gloves of Muhammad Akhlaq. Islamabad United made such a huge appeal that the umpire raised his finger but the decision was referred to TV umpire who reversed it as it showed nothing on ultra edge. The ball had missed the bat/gloves and it was another shocking decision by the umpire. Reflecting on all these mistakes, the fans expressed their disappointment on the poor level of officiating in such an important match.