Ajinkya Rahane Recalled to Bat, Shardul Thakur Sent Back: Umpires’ Decision Sparks Debate

Ajinkya Rahane Recalled to Bat, Shardul Thakur Sent Back: The attention of the umpiring quality in the domestic cricket was focused again when the match of Mumbai and Jammu and Kashmir was played in the BKC ground in Mumbai. In an extremely rare incident, Mumbai captain Ajinkya Rahane was called back by on-field umpires almost five minutes after he was given out and walked back in the dressing room as third umpire informed about the bowler's no-ball.

This happened in the 25th over of Mumbai's second innings on day 2. J&K bowler Umar Nazir swung back and delivered a ball to Rahane, who was totally caught off guard. Rahane cramped himself for room to play a pull shot, which ended up with him only being able to glove it back to the keeper. The drama began thereafter. Rahane quickly moved to the dressing room, with the next batter, Shardul Thakur, heading to bat, so the umpires still continued to check for a no-ball.

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Some time passed for the replays, and when the third umpire declared that Nazir had overstepped, the on-field umpires immediately called back Thakur and instructed Rahane to go back out into the field to bat again.

When Rahane returned to the crease, umpires told him that they had asked him to wait while they checked for a no-ball, but that reached the Mumbai captain only after they made several attempts.

According to the laws of the game, "An umpire shall intervene if satisfied that a batter, not having been given out, has left the wicket under a misapprehension of being out. The umpire intervening shall call and signal Dead ball to prevent any further action by the fielding side and shall recall the batter.

"A batter may be recalled at any time up to the instant when the ball comes into play for the next delivery, unless it is the final wicket of the innings, in which case it should be up to the instant when the umpires leave the field."

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Rahane got out in the next over of Nazir when J&K captain Paras Dogra very capably took an astounding catch at mid-off. Nazir pitched one a little full and just outside the off-stump, which prompted Rahane to go for another uppish drive, with Dogra taking a couple of quick steps to his left and then flying to his left to hold an incredible one-handed catch.

Before Rahane's dismissal, the umpiring at times was untenable. Shreyas Iyer was said to have nicked the ball clearly to the keeper, but the decision was finally made against him four overs later, with the batter disputing the validity of the catch taken. Rahane was also noticed at the non-striker's end having a stern talk with the Umpires.

Meanwhile, the J&K took firm control of the match as they once again batted through the fabled Mumbai line-up. None were able to score heavily, including Rohit Sharma, Yashavi Jaiswal, Shreyas Iyer, Rahane, and Shivam Dube.

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