When the on-field umpire was asked to reverse his decision and signal out, Lucknow Super Giants captain KL Rahul was surprised to say the least. Generally, a batter knows whether he has got an edge or not but it appears that Rahul didn’t on Tuesday. His expression after being given out during the IPL 2022 match against Royal Challengers Bangalore said it all. Rahul couldn’t believe it but he had no choice but take the long walk back as the third umpire went with the technology which suggested that there was a faint tickle when the ball was passing the LSG captain’s bat.
More than Rahul’s reaction, it was the circumstances that led to RCB even considering a review that were even more interesting. It was Dinesh Karthik who told RCB captain Faf du Plessis to send it upstairs but after the match the wicketkeeper said he had no idea whether the ball had actually touched Rahul’s bat or not.
It all transpired in the last ball of the 8th over of the LSG chase shown Harshal Patel bowled a slower deliver down the leg side. Rahul tried to glance it fine but end ed up missing it. There was stiffed appeal from RCB players but the umpire did not signal wide.
Karthik said he saw Virat Kohli running in but he wasn’t sure as the former RCB captain is generally excited on most occasions.
“Actually I didn’t know anything to be honest. I thought he hit it. Virat came running but Virat comes running a lot so I always doubt that. I was waiting to see if anybody said anything and then because the umpire didn’t give it wide, I told Faf just go for it. It was a key wicket because KL Rahul was batting well today,” Karthik said on Star Sports at the end of match.
Rahul’s wicket turned out to be crucial event in the match as LSG were unable to build any solid partnership from then on. They fell 18 runs of the 182-run target.
“It always feels when you win five. The important part is we’ve been coming back from tough situations. We’ve not been getting starts (as well as we would’ve liked to) but still finding ways to claw back in the game and then winning it convincingly, it says a lot about our bowling attack. We’re very proud of our bowling. We’re going in the right direction which is a good sign,” Karthik added.
