After the contentious lbw call that went in Dinesh Karthik's favour in the Royal Challengers Bengaluru (RCB) innings, there was another dismissal in the IPL 2024 Eliminator that divided opinion, when Cameron Green broke the stumps to run out Dhruv Jurel in the Rajasthan Royals (RR) chase.
Green, the bowler, collected Virat Kohli's throw from the deep, but may or may not have had the ball in his grasp while breaking the stumps. The TV umpire, Anil Chaudhary, however, concluded that Green was in control of the ball and gave Jurel out.
Law 29.2.1.5 - dealing with "breaking the wicket fairly" - considers it a valid dismissal provided "that the ball is held in the hand or hands so used, or in the hand of the arm so used" to break the stumps. Since the pictures did not conclusively show Green in control over the ball, there was debate.
*Talking about the above law, the MCC laws manager Fraser Stewart said: "The umpire must therefore determine whether the ball is 'held in the hands'. In this instance, the umpire decided that there was just still pressure on both sides of the ball from both hands, albeit not the parts of the hand that would conventionally be used (palms & fingers). At the moment of impact with the wicket, parts of both hands are still touching the ball, applying just enough pressure to keep it in place. This was sufficient for the umpire to decide that the Law was satisfied and that the ball was being held."
ESPNcricinfo's expoerts, however, did not entirely agree with that soon after the match finished.
"I think there was contact when the wicket was broken, but it was with the wrist. And I don't believe... we've always grown up without knowing the law, the actual wording of the law, we've always grown up understanding it's [about] control. About controlling with the hand," Mitchell McClenaghan said on ESPNcricinfo's TimeOut show. "And you saw Cam Green's reaction afterwards, he was on his knee and his head was down and there was no celebration. Even in his mind - and I could be wrong - I believe he thought he lost control."
Tom Moody also felt the visuals were inconclusive, and Jurel deserved the benefit of the doubt.
"The key word is 'held'," he said, referring to the law. "And I think when the stump lit up, the ball was not held in the hand. He lost control of the ball. Yes, it was in contact with his wrist/thumb, but there was no control of the ball. It wasn't being held.
"So, for me, that's a huge grey area. I just don't think you can give it out. That would've caused a storm with that decision, but just looking at the actual wording of the law, it's very hard to give it out."
Varun Aaron, however, felt that the right decision was made.
"I thought it was out. I understand sometimes you don't hold the ball exactly properly, but if it's somewhere in the vicinity of your palms, and he's hit the bails, it's just a matter of seconds and obviously Cam Green didn't have the time to play the rule in his head," he said. "I thought it was out. The umpire gave it out. It is debatable, it is something where people will have different opinions, but I just thought in that moment it was out. He somewhat had control over it, I won't say he had 100% control over it, but there was control."
The decision did not make a difference to the result. Jurel's dismissal had RR at 112 for 4 in 13.1 overs, but useful knocks from Riyan Parag, Shimron Hetmyer and Rovman Powell gave RR victory over RCB with one over to spare. RR next face Sunrisers Hyderabad on Friday, May 24 in Chennai at the second qualifier.
*1525 GMT, May 23: The story was updated with a quote from Fraser Stewart