Twitterati reacts to umpiring howlers from both matches of Friday’s simultaneous double header

Umpiring howlers made headlines on an exhilarating day of cricket in the Indian Premier League. Whilst an undeniable no-ball call was swayed away in Dubai in the game between Royal Challengers Bangalore and Delhi Capitals, a horrendous call from the on-field officials denied Mumbai Indians a certain wide in the final over of their contest […]
 By Anuraag Peesara Oct 10, 2021, 19:34 IST
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Twitterati reacts to umpiring howlers from both matches of Friday’s simultaneous double header

Umpiring howlers made headlines on an exhilarating day of cricket in the Indian Premier League. Whilst an undeniable no-ball call was swayed away in Dubai in the game between Royal Challengers Bangalore and Delhi Capitals, a horrendous call from the on-field officials denied Mumbai Indians a certain wide in the final over of their contest against Sunrisers Hyderabad.

In the final over of the game, Jason Holder had bowled a bouncer to Suryakumar Yadav, which was well above the head of the Mumbai batter. Suryakumar had to jump and yet the ball flew well over his head. In what was perhaps the easiest and most obvious overhead wide call, the umpire shocked everyone by not giving it. The leg-umpire called it first bounce, and although Surya was nursing with a headache, he was visibly upset.

Mumbai Indians had a herculean task heading into this game, as they needed to win by 171 runs or more to qualify to the final stages. However, Ishan Kishan and Suryakumar’s herculean effort ensured they registered Mumbai Indians’ highest-ever total in IPL history. Mumbai Indians scored 235 runs for the loss of 9 wickets, and although they did part of their job well, they failed to do so with the ball.

Umpiring howlers galore on the final group stage day

A clear error on the third umpire’s part involving speedster Mohammed Siraj’s waist-high no-ball against Delhi Capitals (DC) batter Shimron Hetmyer has fallen under everyone’s scrutiny. The Royal Challengers Bangalore (RCB) pacer delivered a full-toss that was visibly above the acceptable height limits but it wasn’t declared a no-ball, either by the on-field umpire or the television official.

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Twitterati reacts to umpiring howlers from both matches of Friday’s simultaneous double header

The incident happened on the final ball of the 18th over of DC’s innings in Match 56 of the IPL 2021 in Dubai on Friday (October 8). Siraj, looking to execute a yorker against a usually rampaging Hetmyer, bowled the ball comfortably above the batter’s waist at a line-wide outside the off-stump.

Even though the ball got too big on him, the left-hander cut it away for a four behind point. But even as Hetmyer looked at the umpire in hope that he would be declaring it a no-ball and a free-hit would be awarded, there was no such decision coming his way.

The on-field umpire decided it was not a no-ball, which was also the decision that the third umpire arrived at when the matter was sent upstairs. That shocking move left Hetmyer extremely disappointed as he and DC missed on a genuine scoring opportunity, which could well make a big difference to the game’s end outcome.

The umpiring throughout this tournament has seen some questionable calls, and today tops the lot of the catalog “Umpiring howlers”.

Twitterati mocked the umpiring errors brutally, and here’s a small collection of that.

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