Picture Credit: Twitter
It was agony for KKR’s Rinku Singh as the batter was denied a referral in his team’s game against Sunrisers Hyderabad (SRH). But that was not the worst part about it. The whole episode was full of controversy. Plenty of things happened and Rinku Singh had only one expression on his face- confusion and dejection.
So, let’s decipher what transpired in a few minutes on the pitch that caught many eyes. T Natarajan bowled a brilliant yorker to Rinku Singh which the batter could only hit from his shoe. As any bowler would do, Natarajan went with a loud appeal but seeing no reaction from the umpire, the bowler pulled out of the appeal.
However, to bring the first twist in the tale, the umpire raised his finger and adjudged the batter out. Seeing this decision from the umpire it was quite obvious the batter would ask for a referral which was done. But, there was a second twist that was beyond Rinku Singh’s understanding.
In spite of the on-field umpires referring the decision to the third umpire, they signalled that time had run out for the batter to ask for a referral. Rinku Singh did not get a word of what he was being said. Meanwhile, his partner Sam Billings was seen chatting animatedly to the umpires.
After a long conversation, Rinku was made to understand that the reason for him not getting a chance to review that decision was him not making the ‘T’ sign. In simpler terms, Rinku was denied the DRS because Sam Billings had asked for it and not Rinku, against whom the decision was made.
Watch the video of the whole episode here:
After all of this transpired, Rinku could only walk back to the pavilion with a dejected face. Nonetheless, although he did not get a chance to challenge the decision, it would have been a waste of a review as the batter was trapped right in front of the three sticks.