The TV umpire Anil Chaudhary’s decision to overturn an lbw decision from out to not out in Dinesh Karthik’s favour came under heavy scrutiny during the Eliminator between Rajasthan Royals and Royal Challengers Bengaluru in Ahmedabad.
The incident took place in the 15th over of RCB’s innings. After Rajat Patidar had just been dismissed, Avesh Khan swung the ball into the right-hander and Karthik was given out lbw by the on-field umpire KN Ananthapadmanabhan.
Karthik did not immediately review the decision and only made the DRS signal after a chat with his partner Mahipal Lomror. The replays showed the bottom of the bat close to the front pad at the same time as the ball seemed to pass the bat and strike the pad as Karthik came forward.
The question was whether the spike on Ultra Edge was the ball hitting the inside edge of the bat or the bat hitting the pad. The TV umpire Chaudhary thought it was bat on ball and asked the on-field umpire to change his decision to not out, though it seemed like there wasn’t conclusive evidence to do so.
The consensus among the TV commentators following the decision was that a mistake had been made and cameras showed the Rajasthan Royals director of cricket Kumar Sangakkara unhappy while talking to the fourth umpire outside the boundary.
If Karthik had been given out, RCB would have been 122 for 6, but he went on to score 11 off 12 balls in a partnership of 32 off 24 balls with Lomror. Karthik was eventually dismissed in the 19th over, and RCB finished on 172 for 8.
