Technology has played a major role in changing how we see modern day cricket. The inclusion of DRS, Ball Tracking, Snicko etc has transformed the viewing experience. But all these new technologies are ultimately used by the human beings and humans are bound to make errors. Being in the 10th edition of IPL, there were many expectations even before it started. It was always going to be special. The tournament witnessed eight opening ceremonies in total. IPL promises to be full of entertainment and this season was no different. The tournament has already witnessed hat-tricks, big hundreds and fierce rivalries. But it has also witnessed many umpiring blunders and unbelievable howlers. Such howlers are not witnessed for the first time in IPL tournament, but the frequency of these blunders is much more in this season as compared to the previous tournaments. Let us have a look at some of the worst umpiring blunders from this season’s IPL.
When Manan Vohra was declared not out off Mohammad Nabi’s bowling in SRH v/s KXIP match
In his innings against SRH, Vohra should have been dismissed when he was on 32 when Nabi’s ball hit him on the pads in front of off stump. It looked that the ball would go on to hit the middle stump. But Anil Dandekar, who was the umpire in the match, dismissed the bowler’s appeal by suggesting that there had been an inside edge. The replays showed there wasn’t any, and Vohra went on to score 95 off 50 balls in that match.
When Robin Uthappa was declared not out off Bhuveneshwar Kumar’s bowling in KKR v/s SRH match
Uthappa got lucky in the first ball he faced, when he edged past a Bhuvneshwar Kumar’s outswinger delivery on route to the keeper. Once again Anil Dandekar was at fault, as he completely missed the loud nick. In that match Uthappa went on to make 68 of just 39 balls.
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When Jos Butler was declared out despite edging the ball onto the pads in MI v/s RPS match
‘This was the match which started the umpiring howlers for this season. Jos Butler was in great touch for MI as he scored a quick 38 runs of just 18 balls, but his innings was cut short by Sundaram Ravi’s error when he gave Butler out LBW, although the ball took a massive deflection of Butler’s bat.
When Jos Butler was again undone by an umpiring blunder in MI v/s KKR match
The Englishman found himself at the receiving end once again when he was given out LBW off Ankit Rajpoot’s bowling, after a fiery start against KKR to chase 179 runs. This time he didn’t get bat on it but the bowl was sliding down the leg side. But Umpire Nitin Menon thought it was going to hit the stumps and as a result declared him out.
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When Rohit Sharma was declared out off Sunil Narine’s bowling in MI v/s KKR match
Mumbai was still recovering from the blunder of Jos Butler’s dismissal when they were struck by another howler as their captain who was set up by Sunil Narine as he was continuously bowling leg-breaks, bowled a off-break delivery to surprise the MI captain who failed to pick. The ball took deflection off the inside edge. But Umpire CK Nandan ruled the MI captain out in no time which left the batsman furious. He even exchanged words with the Umpire after his decision.
When Kieron Pollard was declared not out off Imran Tahir’s bowling in MI v/s RPS match
MI who were at the receiving end of umpiring howlers, got one decision in their favour. Kieron Pollard was struck on the pads by Tahir and the ball was crashing into the stumps. But umpire Ravi thought that it hit the bat first and then went onto hit the pads, But the replays showed that it struck on to the pads first. MS Dhoni who is known for his cool and calm nature even jokingly signalled for a DRS and had to pay a fine for that after the game.
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When David Warner took the strike after hitting a boundary off the last bowl of the previous over in SRH v/s MI match
Warner who hit Jasprit Bumrah for a boundary to the third-man boundary on the very last ball of the over found himself on strike once again for the very first bowl of the fresh over which was bowled by Mitchell McClenaghan. This was the worst of all the blunders / howlers as the umpires failed to keep a track of such a basic rule of the game. Nitin Menon and CK Nandan were the umpires who were found guilty.
