Umpire Anil Chaudhary got embroiled in a controversy after allegedly making an unexpected signal during the Sunrisers Hyderabad vs Delhi Capitals match in IPL 2020. SRH beat DC by a massive 88 runs to keep their hopes of making the IPL playoffs alive. But despite Hyderabad’s comfortable win, the match had a controversial moment involving the umpire Anil Chaudhary. The controversy occurred during Delhi’s innings with Ravichandran Ashwin at the crease. Hyderabad were cruising towards a big win when Ashwin was struck in the pads by Sandeep Sharma. Jasprit Bumrah Completes 100 IPL Wickets, Picks Virat Kohli As His Milestone Wicket During MI vs RCB Match; Also Becomes First Indian Pacer With 200 T20 Wickets.

The incident occurred in the 17th over of the innings when Sharma hit Ashwin on the pads and Hyderabad immediately appealed for an LBW decision. But umpire Anil Chaudhary signalled not-out and pointed towards his arm suggesting Ashwin had hit the ball with his bat. Chaudhary tapped in his knuckles while announcing his decision and suggested that Ashwin had got an inside-edge. Immediately, there were calls that it might have somehow helped Sunrisers Hyderabad, who might have otherwise opted for a DRS review but Chaudhary’s signal influenced their decision not to go for the DRS review. SRH vs DC, IPL 2020 Match Result: Rashid Khan Stars After Wriddhiman Saha and David Warner Show as Sunrisers Hyderabad Thrash Delhi Capitals to Keep Playoff Hopes Alive.

That was, however, inconsequential in regard to the match with Delhi already behind in the game and almost out of the game. The matter was also later brought up by commentators Sanjay Bangar, Scott Styris and Brett Lee, who questioned the call and said the umpire was absent-minded.

“Should the umpire be doing that? Standing there saying ‘bat’? With the ability now of teams to have reviews, should he be giving a clue to the players?” Styris said at the post-match show in Star Sports’ Select Dugout. “When we played before DRS was around, we would often see umpires do that, and there was no problem because he was then helping the fielding team out as to say why it was given not out – ‘I believe he hit it’. But now, with the DRS.”

Bangar and Lee also agreed with Styris and called it an error in judgement from umpire Anil Chaudhary. Meanwhile, as per the regulations, players aren’t allowed to go and consult the umpires before taking a DRS review call. Article 3.2.3 of the IPL rulebook states “Under no circumstances is any player permitted to query an umpire about any aspect of a decision before deciding on whether or not to request a Player Review.”

Meanwhile, the big win kept SRH alive in the race for finishing in the top four and reached the IPL playoffs. They are currently placed sixth with 10 points from 12 matches while Delhi are ranked third with 14 points.

(The above story first appeared on LatestLY on Oct 28, 2020 10:50 PM IST. For more news and updates on politics, world, sports, entertainment and lifestyle, log on to our website latestly.com).