Foot on the Rope, Eyes Off the Ball — IPL Umpiring Has a Credibility Problem
Digvesh Rathi's catch looked good live. The replays told a different story. The third umpire apparently didn't watch either version carefully enough.
The Catch That Wasn't
Second over of the KKR innings. Prince Yadav to Finn Allen. A mistimed shot lofting towards third man. Digvesh Rathi runs in from the boundary, takes the catch, and the finger goes up. Out for 9 off 8 balls. Game on for LSG.
Except the replays — which millions of viewers saw in real time — told a very different story. Rathi's left foot appeared to make contact with the boundary cushion as he completed the catch. The advertising board visibly moved. In any reasonable interpretation of the laws, that's a six, not a wicket.
The third umpire glanced at it. Didn't linger. Didn't ask for more angles. Moved on. Allen walked. And IPL 2026 added another entry to its growing catalogue of officiating embarrassments.
"That looked like a six isn't it? Clearly, the foot touched the advertising board and could see it moving."Shreevats Goswami, former RCB wicketkeeper, on X during KKR vs LSG
Powell's Dignified Fury
Rovman Powell doesn't do drama. The KKR all-rounder — who smashed 39 off 18 in a losing cause — fronted up at the post-match press conference and said what needed saying without losing his composure.
His words were measured. The implication was not. Powell effectively said: the umpires have gone upstairs for far less marginal calls this season, and chose not to here. That's not an accusation of bias. It's something worse — an accusation of inconsistency. And inconsistency in officiating is the one thing that erodes trust faster than anything else.
To his credit, Powell didn't hide behind the controversy. "We're not going to look into that and say that is what cost us two points tonight," he added. KKR posted 182/7 and couldn't defend it against Mukul Choudhary's extraordinary 54 off 27 balls. The catch didn't lose them the match. But it might have changed its shape entirely — Allen was a set opener dismissed for 9 in a game decided by margins.
"We had a talk about that when he came off. We thought — we have seen in the IPL, the umpires have gone upstairs for lesser things than that, or not as close as that. And maybe it was a blunder on their part, but we're not going to look into that and say that is what cost us two points tonight."Rovman Powell, KKR all-rounder, post-match press conference after LSG defeat
The Catch in Question — KKR vs LSG, Match 15
| Batter | Finn Allen (KKR) — 9 off 8 balls |
| Bowler | Prince Yadav (LSG) |
| Fielder | Digvesh Rathi — foot appeared to touch boundary cushion |
| Third Umpire Check | Minimal — no extended review of foot placement |
| Match Result | LSG won by 3 wickets (Mukul Choudhary 54 off 27) |
A Pattern, Not an Incident
If this were an isolated call, you'd file it under "things happen in live sport" and move on. It isn't.
Four days earlier, Avesh Khan — padded up near the LSG dugout — batted a live ball back into the field before it reached the boundary during the final over of the SRH vs LSG match. SRH lodged a formal complaint with the BCCI citing Laws 20.1 and 41. The BCCI responded with a mid-season rule change restricting benched players' movement around the boundary.
Before that, there were questions about LBW reviews, about inconsistent wide calls, about the general standard of on-field decision-making in a tournament that generates billions in revenue and deploys technology that most international cricket boards can only dream of.
The technology exists. The cameras exist. The slow-motion replays exist. What apparently doesn't exist is a third umpire protocol rigorous enough to ensure they're actually used when they matter.
The Billion-Dollar Officiating Gap
The IPL is the richest cricket league on the planet. Its media rights deal is worth over $6 billion. Its franchises are valued like Premier League football clubs. Its broadcast infrastructure captures 30+ camera angles per delivery.
And yet, a boundary catch that would have been correctly adjudicated by a club-level replay system was waved through because the third umpire didn't think it needed a proper look. That's not a technology problem. It's a process problem. And process problems in a league this size are inexcusable.
Every franchise invests millions in analytics, coaching staff, and player performance data. The BCCI invests in DRS, Hawk-Eye, and ultra-edge. But the human in the middle — the person who decides when to use all that technology — remains the weakest link in the chain. Not because umpires aren't skilled. Because the protocols don't mandate the kind of rigorous, systematic checking that a tournament of this magnitude demands.
What Actually Needs to Change
The fix isn't complicated. Every boundary catch should be automatically reviewed by the third umpire — not at the on-field umpire's discretion, but as a mandatory protocol. The same way every wicket already triggers a no-ball check. If you can check the front foot on every dismissal, you can check the boundary rope on every outfield catch.
The cost is a few extra seconds per match. The benefit is not having to explain to a franchise owner why their opener was given out on a catch that wasn't a catch. Not having to watch a press conference where a player diplomatically says what everyone is thinking: the umpires had a shocker.
Finn Allen will play again tomorrow against someone else. The two points are gone. But the image of a foot on a boundary cushion — and a third umpire who didn't care to look closely enough — will linger far longer than the scorecard. In a league that prides itself on being the gold standard of T20 cricket, the officiating needs to match the ambition. Right now, it doesn't come close.
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