IPL 2019: Umpires at it again! This time, they forgot where they kept the ball

It was just before the start of the 15th over when Rajpoot came to bowl the over.

Published - 25 Apr 2019, 11:29 IST | Updated - 25 Apr 2019, 11:29 IST

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The Indian Premier League (IPL) 2019 will be remembered for two big reasons: Andre Russell’s superlative batting and the poor umpiring standards. From controversy to comedy, umpires in the T20 tournament have done it all and the Twitter is in no mood to give up reacting either. On Wednesday, the tournament saw yet another such incident and it left Royal Challengers Bangalore (RCB) batsman AB de Villiers in splits.

Kings XI Punjab (KXIP) captain Ravichandran Ashwin won the toss in the game played at M Chinnaswamy Stadium and elected to field. The RCB had a relatively quiet time till the ninth over when they lost their fourth wicket. But the next 11 overs saw the home team plundering 121 runs for no loss with de Villiers (82 not out off 44) and Marcus Stoinis (46 not out off 34) leading the charge.

The last five overs yielded 80 runs as Ankit Rajpoot, Mohammed Shami and Hardus Viljoen were taken apart. The RCB posted a total of 202 for 4 in the must-win game.

The ball lied in the umpire’s pocket and he forgot about it

Amid the RCB’s carnage, the funny incident happened. It was just before the start of the 15th over when Rajpoot came to bowl the over but none could find the ball. From the captain to the umpires, everybody was looking for the round object but it was not to be found. Then suddenly Chettithody Shamsuddin, one of the umpires, checked his trouser pockets and discovered it.

He had taken it from his partnering umpire Bruce Oxenford before the strategic time-out and kept it in his pocket only to forget about it. He then rushed to the centre of the pitch and handed over the ball to the bowler. The fourth umpire, who was then on the field with a set of new balls, then rushed back and the game resumed. The entire episode left South African batter de Villiers in splits.