Throughout their IPL match in opposition to Punjab Kings on Tuesday, three Kolkata Knight Riders’s batsmen, Andre Russell, Sunil Narine and Anrich Nortje’s bats failed the gauge take a look at and have been made to switch them. “Umpires have a brand new toy. Batters coming in with their 2nd alternative bats…Verify the scores… haha,” Dale Steyn tweeted cheekily late on Wednesday night time after the conclusion of the KKR vs Punjab Kings sport.
The triangle-shaped plastic gauge has the size of a authorized bat printed on it: depth 2.68 inches, width 4.33 inches, edges 1.61 inches. The curve, or the bulge of the bat, seen on the decrease non-hitting aspect of the bat, must be inside 0.20 inches.
Earlier than this season, bats weren’t examined on match days; officers would conduct assessments on the eve of the sport. However this technique had an apparent loophole: some batsmen would flip up for the sport with totally different bats.
When Andre Russell got here out to bat in opposition to Punjab Kings within the eleventh over, the umpire Saidharshan Kumar administered the gauge take a look at and the bat didn’t cross by.
Narine’s incident occurred earlier than the beginning of the KKR chase. Since he’s an opener, Narine’s bat was checked past the boundary simply previous to his batting stint. The fourth umpire Saiyed Khalid was seen checking the bats of Narine and Angkrish Raghuvanshi, who have been standing beside the boundary. Khalid may very well be seen in a video, making an attempt the gauge and failing to clear the thickest a part of the bat. Narine then says one thing to him, and the umpire tries once more however with comparable outcomes. He then passes the gauge by Raghuvanshi’s bat with none challenge.
When Nortje got here to bat on the finish of the fifteenth over, he too failed the gauge take a look at and the substitute participant Rahmanullah Gurbaz ran out with the substitute bat that was deemed authorized.
However Nortje didn’t face a ball as Russell fell the very subsequent supply, inside-edging a heave as Punjab Kings pulled off a shocking victory.
Story continues beneath this advert
Chatting with The Indian Specific, IPL chairman Arun Dhumal had earlier mentioned the choice was taken to make sure equity on the sphere. “No person ought to really feel that anyone’s acquired an undue benefit,” he mentioned. “The BCCI and IPL have at all times taken all initiatives on this route in order that equity of the sport is maintained. Now we have used know-how to the utmost to guarantee that all selections could be reviewed in order that the video games don’t get unfairly affected. The thought behind this initiative is to make sure that the spirit of the sport is maintained,” Dhumal mentioned.
Delhi Capitals’s quick bowler Mohit Sharma had a light-hearted tackle the bat checks, saying, ”That’s actually good, please examine these bats. As it’s we’ve been seeing such massive sixes. If a bat or two are caught outsized then ban them additionally.”
