‘This can end someone's campaign’ – Gautam Gambhir hits out at third umpire for disallowing Rahul Tripathi a catch in KKR vs PBKS match

Former Indian cricketer Gautam Gambhir came down hard on third umpire Anil Dandekar for not allowing Rahul Tripathi a clean-looking catch in the game between Kolkata Knight Riders and Punjab Kings at the Dubai International Cricket Stadium on Friday, October 1. KL Rahul, the PBKS skipper, went for an ambitious shot on the leg side, but couldn’t quite find proper timing.

Tripathi dived full-length on to his front and seemed to have got his fingers underneath the ball. After seeming to take the catch, he and the bowler, Shivam Mavi, were ecstatic. However, after the on-field umpires sent the decision upstairs, the third umpire reckoned that Tripathi had grassed the ball. Thereafter, PBKS went on to win the game by five wickets with three balls left.

After the game, Graeme Swann, the former England cricketer, slammed the third umpire for not making the right decision in the crunch situation of the game. “That was the worst piece of third umpiring I have ever seen,” Swann was quoted as saying on Star Sports.

That was a shocker, says Gautam Gambhir

Gambhir also echoed Swann’s words, saying the decision can dent KKR’s campaign going forward in the IPL 2021. The southpaw said that the decision was an easy one for the third umpire and he shouldn’t have seen the replay more than once.

“That was a shocker, this can end someone’s campaign. He shouldn’t have seen the replay more than once, it just looked out. Even if they had got KL Rahul out, things would have been different. We cannot have these kinds of shockers in the IPL,” Gambhir said.

After KKR’s defeat, Eoin Morgan, their skipper, also felt that Tripathi’s catch was a clean one. “I thought in real-time that the Tripathi catch was out. But when you slow it down, the third umpire decides otherwise. We got on with it once he made his call,” Morgan said.

Rahul went on to make 67 off 55 with four fours and two sixes before Venkatesh Iyer dismissed him in the final over. He went on to bag the Player of the Match award as PBKS kept their hopes alive of qualifying for the playoffs.