Kolkata Knight Riders (KKR) cricketer Angkrish Raghuvanshi on Sunday, April 26, became just the fourth player in the Indian Premier League (IPL) history to be dismissed by the umpires for obstructing the field in their match against the Lucknow Super Giants (LSG) at the Ekana International Stadium.
In the final moments of the fifth over, Raghuvanshi flick the ball to mid-on and tried to quickly make a single. But he was asked to return to the non-striker’s end by Cameron Green. In a rush to get back, the right-handed batter ran on the middle before making a sudden change in direction, which was within the line of the ball.
Third umpire Rohan Pandit was spot-on, despite the post-match controversy. The batter is not permitted to change the direction substantially while running and not for any probable cause. IPL playing conditions does mention the following in Clause 37.1.4 about obstructing the field.
“For the avoidance of doubt, if an umpire feels that a batter, in running between the wickets, has significantly changed his direction without probable cause and thereby obstructed a fielder’s attempt to effect a run out, the batter should, on appeal, be given out, obstructing the field. It shall not be relevant whether a run out would have occurred or not,” reads the said clause.
The third umpire pundit on ESPNCricinfo tried his best to search if Angkrish Raghuvanshi could have had any probable cause, which would have saved him in this tricky situation. But failing to find one, it left him with no choice but to dismiss him. It would have been difficult to justify a not-out than an out.
It is to be noted that the umpire does not need to know what the batter’s intentions are for the change of direction.
Raghuvanshi is no more the only player to have the dubious distinction of being dismissed for obstructing the field in the IPL. Yusuf Pathan (2013), Amit Mishra (2019) and Ravindra Jadeja (2024) are the others in the list.
