IPL 2020: Harbhajan Singh responds to Paul Reiffel’s wide controversy in SRH vs CSK game

Paul Reiffel, the veteran umpire, was involved in a controversy during the match between Chennai Super Kings (CSK) and Sunrisers Hyderabad (SRH) on Wednesday, October 13 at the Dubai International Cricket Stadium. At the fag end of SRH’s run-chase, Reiffel backed off from giving a wide when the Orange Army needed 25 runs off the last 11 deliveries.

Shardul Thakur bowled a wide yorker to Rashid Khan, who couldn’t make any sort of connection whatsoever. Thereafter, Reiffel almost prepared to stretch his arms to signal the wide. In the meantime, from behind the wickets, MS Dhoni, the CSK captain wasn’t a happy man. To the surprise of many, Reiffel didn’t give the wide, making David Warner a bit agitated.

Was Paul Reiffel correct?

However, as per the laws, Reiffel wasn’t incorrect since an umpire is allowed to change a decision if made promptly.

Section 2.12 of the IPL match playing condition says: “Umpire’s decision: An umpire may alter any decision provided that such alteration is made promptly. This apart, an umpire’s decision, once made, is final.”

The Sunrisers, in the end, went on to lose the match by 20 runs. It was also their second defeat in succession after the one against Rajasthan Royals (RR) in Dubai itself. Kane Williamson’s half-century couldn’t take them over the finishing line.

In the meantime, veteran Indian cricketer Harbhajan Singh also reacted to the issue. He used the laughing emojis to express his thoughts.

Here’s Harbhajan’s tweet:

🤣🤣🤣🤣 https://t.co/wsPFdsiA1k

— Harbhajan Turbanator (@harbhajan_singh) October 14, 2020

Former Indian cricketer Sunil Gavaskar, former Englishman Kevin Pietersen, and Michael Slater, the retired Australian batsman, also had their say on the matter.

“It looks like he’s checking upstairs, but I don’t know what he’s checking. It looked like his hands were coming out. That’s interesting … I don’t know,” Slater was quoted as saying.

“[They’re checking] if it might have touched the bat, but if it touched the bat, it would have been a catch. It went straight to Dhoni,” Gavaskar said.

“I’m almost dead certain that I saw his (Reiffel) arms start to go out. And there was a lot of shouting and screaming at him, and he sort of stopped his decision,” Pietersen mentioned.