Mumbai Indians (MI ) captain Rohit Sharma is not having a great IPL 2023 at the moment. With just 191 runs in 11 matches, Rohit has not contributed a lot to the team's success with the bat. Rohit is short of runs and on Tuesday night, he appeared to be short of good luck too. Rohit was adjudged out leg before wicket (lbw) for just 7 off 8 balls against Royal Challengers Bangalore at Wankhede stadium. A Wanindu Hasaranga delivery struck on his front pads while he was on the front foot. It was a rather long stride from Rohit, and the onfield umpire decided to turn the down the huge appeal from RCB.
Also Read | How Can RCB Qualify For Playoffs After Defeat Against MI In IPL 2023?
Wrong decision from third umpire?
Faf du Plessis, RCB captain, instantly went upstairs. Hasaranga has the reputation of bowling stump-to-stump line and the whole RCB camp felt that Rohit was hit on the pads in the line of the stumps. The third umpire Nitin Menon saw the replays. The ball was pitching in line of the stumps and the ball tracker suggested it would have hit the leg stump. Third umpire Menon ruled Rohit out as MI captain walked back in disbelief.
Rohit was quite upset with the decision, probably because he felt that the ball hit him outside the 3m mark. The IPL Player Conditions states that a decision can remain not out "if the point of first interception was 300cm or more from the stump, or the point of first interception was more than 250cm but less than 300cm from the stumps and the distance between the point of pitching and the point of first interception was less than 40cm, the on-field decision shall stand (that is, Not out)".
Former cricketers Mohammad Kaif and Munaf Patel slammed the umpiring as they shared a proof on social media that Rohit was 3.7m from the stumps when the ball hit his pads. Kaif wrote: "Hello DRS, yeh thoda jyada nahi ho gaya? How can this be lbw?".
Check out the reactions on Rohit Sharma's controversial decisions below:
Hello DRS, yeh thoda jyada nahi ho gaya? How can this be lbw? pic.twitter.com/bAgFNevUXL
— Mohammad Kaif (@MohammadKaif) May 9, 2023
Lagta he ab DRS b DRS hona chahye, Unlucky #RohitSharma
Kya bolti public, ye Out he ya nai ??#MIvRCB #IPL2023 pic.twitter.com/yDCgFp92kZ— Munaf Patel (@munafpa99881129) May 9, 2023
Rohit happy with the team effort
His controversial dismissal aside, Rohit was happy with the team's performance on Tuesday night. Mi chased down a total in excess of 200 for the third time this season, which is the most by any team in an edition. Talking about the changed mindset of the MI batters, Rohit said, "The last four games we have seen excess of 200 has been scored. Most of the teams are taking risks and it is coming off. The batters are taking risks and 200 plus scores are being chased. The mindset of the batters is to do something special for the team and it is coming off as well."
