Controversy erupted in the final stages of the IPL 2021 match between Punjab Kings and Kolkata Knight Riders, when a low catch taken by Rahul Tripathi of PBKS captain KL Rahul was given not out by the third umpire. Rahul was batting on 62 with PBKS needing 11 off 10 balls when Rahul slapped the ball on the leg-side. Tripathi, stationed at deep midwicket, came in and completed the catch, or so it seemed.
There was no soft signal and the decision went up to the third umpire. To the naked eye, Tripathi seemed to have gotten his fingers underneath the ball, but TV umpire Anil Dandekar was able to view an angle which prompted the decision to be not out after viewing it several times in slow motion. The equation became 11 off 9 and even though Rahul eventually perished, PBKS won the match by five wickets.
However, the controversial decision extracted a response from almost all the member of the broadcasting panel. Former India batsman Gautam Gambhir called the decision a shocker, while ex England spinner Graeme Swann called it the 'worst third umpire decision' he has ever seen.
{{/usCountry}}However, the controversial decision extracted a response from almost all the member of the broadcasting panel. Former India batsman Gautam Gambhir called the decision a shocker, while ex England spinner Graeme Swann called it the 'worst third umpire decision' he has ever seen.
{{/usCountry}}"That was a shocker, this can end someone's campaign. He shouldn't have seen the replay more than once, it just looked out. Even if they had got KL Rahul out, things would have been different. We cannot have these kinds of shockers in the IPL," Gambhir said on the Star Sports pre-match show.
"That was the worst piece of third umpiring I have ever seen," Swann said on Star Sports' post-match show," said Swann.
On-air commentators Sunil Gavaskar and Kevin Pietersen were unimpressed seeing what had transpired. "I don't know what the soft signal was. There was no soft signal. This to me, is out," Gavaskar pointed out, while Pietersen replied: "I think so too, Sunny. His momentum through the ball, he caught the ball. His fingers were underneath that ball, you can see from some of those replays."