'Tactical call?' - Former India player questions Cummins for withdrawing obstructing the field appeal against Ravindra Jadeja
During the match between Sunrisers Hyderabad (SRH) and Chennai Super Kings (CSK), SRH skipper Pat Cummins took an interesting call that attracted a lot of debate. The incident happened during the penultimate over of CSK's innings when Bhuvneshwar Kumar bowled a yorker as Jadeja jammed the ball straight back to the bowler.
After realising that Jadeja was out of the crease, Bhuvneshwar tried to throw at the stumps. However, the CSK all-rounder came in between the line of the throw to deny the ball hitting the wickets.
To everyone's surprise, Pat Cummins took the higher road and chose to not appeal for 'obstruction of field'.
Soon after the incident, former India cricketer Mohammad Kaif took to Twitter to question the Aussie's act.
Kaif quizzed if Cummins' call was a tactical one to delay Dhoni's arrival to the crease and if the Australian seamer would have taken the same decision had it been star India batter Virat Kohli's wicket in a T20 World Cup match.
Obstructing or not? 🤔
— JioCinema (@JioCinema) April 5, 2024
Skipper Pat Cummins opts not to appeal đź‘Źđź‘Ź#SRHvCSK #IPLonJioCinema #TATAIPL pic.twitter.com/l85UXQEa4S
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
SRH outclass CSK comfortably
If Cummins and SRH appealed, the matter would have been sent for review to the third umpire Bruce Oxenford. He would have then been tasked with determining the final verdict. If not anything, Hyderabad must have gained some fair play points with this decision.
Speaking about the match, SRH restricted Chennai to 165 for 5 in 20 overs after opting to field first. Shivam Dube was the pick of the batters with his quickfire knock of 24-ball 45 while no other CSK batter could really accelerate the run-rate.
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The target proved trivial for SRH, who has only recently recorded the highest-ever team total in IPL history as they chased down the target easily with 11 balls to spare.
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