Why India A's relay catch was ruled invalid against Pakistan in Asia Cup Rising Stars: Explained

A big controversy took over the India A vs Pakistan Shaheens match in the 2025 Asia Cup Rising Stars tournament in Doha on Sunday, November 16. India A lost the match by eight wickets, but the main talking point was a relay catch that looked perfect on the field but was still given not out by the third umpire. This incident confused players, fans, and even commentators.

India A batted first and managed only 136 runs in 19 overs. They had a good start from Vaibhav Suryavanshi (45 off 28) and Naman Dhir (35 off 20), but they suffered a collapse after that. Pakistan Shaheens bowlers kept taking wickets regularly, with Shahid Aziz taking 3/24 and Maaz Sadaqat taking 2/12.

During the chase, Pakistan Shaheens were in complete control thanks to opener Maaz Sadaqat, who played a brilliant unbeaten knock of 79 off 47 balls. India A needed something special to get back into the game, and they thought they had it when a stunning relay catch happened in the 10th over.

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The controversy

On the first ball of the 10th over bowled by Suyash Sharma, Sadaqat hit a big lofted shot towards deep mid-wicket. Nehal Wadhera sprinted and jumped near the boundary. He flicked the ball back into the field while airborne and Naman Dhir completed the catch cleanly inside the boundary.

India A started celebrating. Even Sadaqat began walking back, thinking he was out. But the umpires asked everyone to wait. After checking replays again and again, the third umpire declared not out on the big screen. The Indian players, especially captain Jitesh Sharma, were shocked and asked for an explanation.

It was all happening in Qatar 👀 And things got pretty heated in the middle...

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Why was it given not out?

The reason it was given not out is a major rule change the MCC introduced in June 2025. Earlier, only the first fielder’s position was checked during a relay catch at the boundary, whether he touched the rope or not. Fielders could jump outside the boundary many times as long as they didn’t touch the ground with the ball in hand.

But under the new rule, a fielder can touch the ball once while airborne outside the boundary. After that touch, he must land inside the field and stay inside until the ball is dead. If he lands outside after touching the ball, the ball is immediately considered a boundary.

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In this incident, Wadhera touched the ball in the air outside the rope and when he landed, his feet hit the ground outside the boundary line again. So the relay catch became invalid even though Dhir caught it perfectly.

This rule was changed to avoid multiple touches by a fielder outside the boundary, which is also called a bunny hop, as seen in the video below.

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Cue the debate about the Laws of Cricket... #BBL12 pic.twitter.com/5Vco84erpj

— cricket.com.au (@cricketcomau) January 1, 2023

What confused everyone more was that Pakistan didn’t get a boundary after the catch was ruled invalid.