Mumbai: An unusual controversy hit IPL 2022 on Thursday evening.
After Mumbai Indians captain Rohit Sharma won the toss against MS Dhoni and asked Chennai Super Kings to bat first, the contest sprung to life off the very second ball. Daniel Sams’ appeal for leg-before wicket against Devon Conway was upheld by the umpire.
The New Zealand opener wasn’t convinced about the decision and walked down to his partner Ruturaj Gaekwad. He would surely have opted for a DRS referral to the third umpire, but unfortunately he was denied his rightful option.
The reason?
Well, the on-field umpires told the batsman due to some technical issue – caused by a power outage at the Wankhede Stadium — the DRS system wasn’t operational.
As a disappointed Conway trudged back to the pavilion, the reviews suggested that the ball was likely to swing away and miss the leg stump.
Two balls later, Moeen Ali was dismissed lobbing a simple catch to short mid-wicket as he tried to pull his bat away from a short ball.
In the next over, Robin Uthappa was adjudged leg-before wicket to Jasprit Bumrah. Uthappa may also have opted for a referral, but the DRS service was still not available.
It was only after that the opening overs that the issue was sorted out, but by that time CSK had suffered.
A power issue had delayed the toss by about 5 minutes.
