'Are you legalizing a beamer?' - Navjot Sidhu calls for change in rules after Virat Kohli's controversial dismissal in IPL 2024

Any fixture between the Kolkata Knight Riders and the Royal Challengers Bengaluru promises to be a gripping contest. Match 36 of IPL 2024 was no exception to the expectation. With the match swaying from one side to the other, constantly shifting as flow patterns change, KKR finally came out on top by the barest of margins.

However, the entire match came to a standstill after RCB's icon, Virat Kohli, was declared caught & bowled off Harshit Rana, first by the on-field umpires, and eventually by the third umpire, over a fairly debatable waist-height call. The commentators provided their views during the game, and soon, it became a point of critical assessment and introspection among the entire cricketing fraternity. 

Kohli, along with the RCB unit and his countless fans, believed he was not out because the ball was above waist height at the point of contact. The umpires and the broadcaster ruled him out as Kohli was outside his crease, and the trajectory of the ball would have struck him below his waist, had he not stepped out in the first place.

In a video posted on X by former Indian cricketer-turned-commentator Navjot Sidhu, he was seen with a bat in hand sporting a traditional attire, and explained the nuances of the dismissal.

The 126-second clip seemed to have been curated in view of providing equitable justice, with Sidhu starting off with questioning and calling out the nitty-gritty the Marylebone Cricket Club ensued while drafting the law, considering Kohli was on his toes while the ball made contact with the bat, questioning whether the rules accounted for an additional inch while mapping the regulation. 

"I’m disappointed, not only for Virat Kohli but for RCB as well. If you have a rule in place for the waist-height no-ball, did you notice he stood on his toes almost 6 inches high? Did u count those extra inches while measuring his height,” said Sidhu.

The second point that Sidhu highlighted was the bowler not even apologizing for bowling a beamer and instead celebrating, as opposed to bowlers during his playing days, who used to come up to batters to check on them and apologize, if at all an intended yorker went haywire. 

"The biggest thing for me is that a beamer was legalized. Since I started playing the game, I have seen bowlers apologizing even if their attempted Yorker turned into a beamer and surprised the players. So, if the batter steps out and gets hit on the head or shoulder, won’t you even apologize? Are you legalizing a beamer?" he added.

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“The point of impact on his bat was almost 1-1.5 feet higher than his waistline while he was six inches away from the batting crease. So, you mean the ball would dip by 2 feet while travelling those extra 6 inches? So, that’s why I say, this law must change for the better," Sidhu concluded.