 "Harshal Patel celebrates after taking the wicket of Ryan Rickelton. Image: Reuters")
There was a moment of real drama in the match between Mumbai Indians (MI) and Sunrisers Hyderabad (SRH) during the IPL 2025 season on Thursday. MI batter Ryan Rickelton was given out during MI’s chase after being dismissed by Zeeshan Ansari. Rickelton walked back to the pavilion but was soon called back to the crease, leaving everyone stunned.
What happened during the dismissal?
The incident occurred on the fifth ball of the 6th over of the MI innings. SRH’s Zeeshan Ansari bowled a short ball that Ryan Rickelton tried to hit hard. The ball went straight to Pat Cummins at cover, who took a diving catch. Rickelton was out, or at least, that’s what everyone thought.
He started walking back, and Suryakumar Yadav was already walking out to bat next. But then, the fourth umpire stepped in and asked for a review of the delivery. It was called a no-ball.
After checking the replay, it turned out that SRH wicketkeeper Heinrich Klaasen had made a mistake. His gloves were in front of the stumps at the time the ball was delivered, which is not allowed as per MCC rules.
When a wicketkeeper’s gloves are ahead of the stumps during the delivery, the ball is considered a no-ball even if the batter gets out. So, Rickelton was not out, the delivery was declared a no-ball, and to make things worse for SRH, MI also got a free-hit on the next ball.
Varun Chakravarthy slams the rule
After the incident went viral, Indian spinner Varun Chakaravarthy shared his thoughts on social media. He questioned why such a mistake by the wicketkeeper should be treated like a no-ball even though the bowler didn’t do anything wrong.
Meanwhile, Rickelton failed to capitalise on the lifeline as he was dismissed by Harshal Patel in the very next over.