IPL 2021: No-ball controversy in PBKS vs RR match — Did Mustafizur get away with two no-balls?

Tuesday’s IPL clash between Rajasthan Royals and Punjab Kings at Dubai turned out to be a thrilling affair. Despite needing only four runs to win off the final over, with eight wickets in hand, Punjab Kings fell short of the target by just three runs. It was youngster Kartik Tyagi who put on a bowling […]
 
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IPL 2021: No-ball controversy in PBKS vs RR match — Did Mustafizur get away with two no-balls?

Tuesday’s IPL clash between Rajasthan Royals and Punjab Kings at Dubai turned out to be a thrilling affair. Despite needing only four runs to win off the final over, with eight wickets in hand, Punjab Kings fell short of the target by just three runs.

It was youngster Kartik Tyagi who put on a bowling masterclass in the final over as he kept nailing one yorker after another and got two batters in Nicholas Pooran and Deepak Hooda dismissed as well. The 20-year-old deservedly got a standing ovation from the ground and also got applauded by many former and current international players on social media, including his idol Jasprit Bumrah. 

WATCH: 4 to win in the last over — Kartik Tyagi concedes just one run!!

Tyagi’s over was well set up by Bangladesh international Mustafizur Rahman who bowled an excellent 19th over as well, conceding just four runs off it once again. However, that over had its share of controversies as doubts were raised over the legality of the first two balls.

Mustafizur Rahman bowled a controversial penultimate over

Mustafizur went quite wide on the crease while delivering from over the wicket on both deliveries and it appeared that his foot was touching the return crease on both occasions. 

IPL 2021: No-ball controversy in PBKS vs RR match — Did Mustafizur get away with two no-balls?

MCC’s rule 21.5.1 for determining a no-ball states that “the bowler’s back foot must land within and not touching the return crease appertaining to his/her stated mode of delivery.”

 

 

However, the third umpire, who is in charge of reviewing the legality of every delivery, didn’t notice or call this out at all. As a result, Mustafizur and Rajasthan Royals got away on both instances and that allowed them to take the game into the last over.

This issue was raised on social media by renowned commentator and analyst Aakash Chopra as well. He also agreed that he can’t say for certain that Mustafizur’s back foot was within the return crease at the first point of contact.

 

Technology is supposed to make decision making for the umpires easier and the whole process fairer to both the sides involved in a match. Even though cricket has advanced a lot in terms of using technology, incidents like this show why the match officials need to be far more alert while making even the simplest of decisions during the game.