Watch: Third umpire’s controversial decision that led to Hardik Pandya’s dismissal in 1st ODI vs NZ | Cricket News – Times of India

NEW DELHI: Cricket is a game of glorious uncertainties – that is a phrase which is often used whenever there is some outstanding action on the field. On Wednesday though, third umpire KN Ananthapadmanabhan managed to raise many an eyebrow by giving Hardik Pandya out in what was a very strange dismissal.
The incident happened in the 40th over of the Indian innings when Pandya tried to cut an incoming angular delivery from Kiwi all-rounder Daryl Mitchell, but missed it completely.

The bails came off and Mitchell and his teammates celebrated, thinking he had bowled Hardik. But then Kiwi captain and wicket-keeper Tom Latham asked for the umpires to review it because he felt he might have nicked the bails with his gloves.
The third umpire asked for multiple replays and even checked UltraEdge to see if the ball had grazed Hardik’s bat. In the split-screen images that were shown to him by the TV crew, it was clearly visible that the ball didn’t seem to have grazed the off stump at all. And that the bails lit up and fell after the ball had been collected by Latham who was standing up to the stumps.

But the third umpire ruled in the favour of NZ, giving Hardik out and leaving everyone stunned including the Kiwis and the commentators. Former India cricketer and Head Coach Ravi Shastri sounded extremely surprised in commentary and later also talked about how the ball had cleared the stumps without the bails lighting up.
Usually when there is no clear evidence to show if a batter is out or not, most umpires give the benefit of the doubt to the batter. In this case though video replays seemed to clearly show that the ball had not hit the stumps. But then, the umpire’s call is final.
Interestingly, just 5 deliveries later, in the next over bowled by Michael Bracewell, Latham’s gloves brushed and took off the bails again. This time Shubman Gill, who went on to smash his maiden ODI double ton was on strike.