There's no hiding from the fact that the umpiring standard in IPL 2024 has been poor, to say the least, and it was on display once again in RCB vs RR Eliminator on Wednesday.
After dismissing Rajat Patidar, Avesh Khan trapped Dinesh Karthik in front of the stumps on the very next ball and the on-field umpire gave it out.
However, DK challenged the decision by using DRS. The Snickometer showed two spikes but the first one was clearly from the bat hitting the pad. However, the 3rd umpire felt otherwise and asked the on-field umpire to reverse his decision.
As Karthik survived, fans and experts couldn't wrap their heads around the decision. Even Rajasthan Royals' head coach Kumar Sangakkara was left shocked.
"The bat has hit the pad, the bat has not hit the ball," said Sunil Gavaskar during commentary. Ravi Shastri too called the decision 'an absolute shocker'.
Wasim Jaffar and Michael Vaughan may have contrasting views on almost all topics but they too found this decision shocking.
"There was no bat. If there was, Dinesh would have taken DRS straight away," wrote former India cricketer Irfan Pathan on social media platform 'X'.
Karthik though couldn't make much use of the lifeline and was eventually out for a 13-ball-11 to Avesh Khan only.