Watch: Cummins decides against appealing for obstruction after Jadeja comes in the way of Bhuvneshwar's throw

Ravindra Jadeja and Bhuvneshwar Kumar were on Friday involved in a situation that could have potentially snowballed into a controversy during the IPL 2024 meeting between Sunrisers Hyderabad (SRH) and Chennai Super Kings (CSK).

The incident took place during the penultimate over of the CSK innings after SRH captain Pat Cummins won the toss and opted to field. All-rounder Ravindra Jadeja attempted to flick a yorker from Bhuvneshwar Kumar, but could only get a deflection onto his foot that send the ball in the direction of the bowler.

Bhuvneshwar promptly collected the ball and attempted to hit the striker’s stumps, only for the ball to hit Jadeja on his back. Since the batter had come directly between the direction of the throw and the stumps, even if unintentionally while trying to avoid the ball, the Sunrisers could have considered the option of appeal for obstructing the field.

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Watch the incident unfold here:

Obstructing or not? 🤔

Skipper Pat Cummins opts not to appeal 👏👏#SRHvCSK #IPLonJioCinema #TATAIPL pic.twitter.com/l85UXQEa4S

— JioHotstar Reality (@HotstarReality) April 5, 2024

SRH skipper Cummins, however, decided against appealing for obstruction, apparently in the spirit of sportsmanship.

Former India cricketer Mohammad Kaif, however, questioned whether Cummins had deliberately withdrawn the appeal in order to keep Jadeja, who was batting on 25 off 20 balls at the time, at the crease instead of MS Dhoni, who was due to walk in next.

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Two questions to Pat Cummins on withdrawing the obstructing the field appeal against Jadeja. Was it a tactical call to let a struggling Jadeja be the crease and keep Dhoni indoors? Would he have done the same if it was Virat Kohli at World T20?

— Mohammad Kaif (@MohammadKaif) April 5, 2024

Jadeja had collected three boundaries until coming in the way of Bhuvneshwar’s throw, and added just one more to his tally — in the final delivery of the innings — to finish unbeaten on 31 off 23 balls as CSK posted a modest 165/5 on the board.

Powered by Aiden Markram’s 36-ball 50 as well as a blazing start provided by opener Abhishek Sharma, who smashed 37 off just 12 balls, the Sunrisers ended up chasing the target down with six wickets and nearly two overs to spare.