'Six' given as 'Four'? The Truth Behind the Umpire's Controversial Call in KKR vs RCB IPL 2024 match

Kolkata Knight Riders locked horns with Royal Challengers Bangalore in the 36th match of Indian Premier League 2024 on April 21 at the Eden Gardens. Kolkata Knight Riders batted first and posted a daunting total of 222 runs on the board. RCB in response, fell short by a run after being bowled out at 221 in 20 overs. Amidst the thrilling clash, an instance of the umpire wrongly making a decision created a lot of buzz on the internet.

On the fifth delivery of the 17th over, Varun Chakaravarthy bowled a short of a length delivery angling into the pads and Suyash Prabhudessai deposited the half-tracker over short-fine leg for a boundary. It seemed as if the ball had cleared the ropes but the on-field umpire signalled it as a four. Seeing the trajectory of the ball, it appears that it was a six but the umpire surprisingly did not use the technology on offer before making the decision. This created a lot of controversy after RCB lost the match by a run. If Prabhudessai’s shot would have been a six, the result of the game could have been different. 

After the game, many fans and even esteemed umpire Richard Kettleborough took to ‘X’ to point out the umpire’s mistake. Kettleborough wrote ‘Oh My God, How did they missed this, seems like a clear six. RCB lost by 1 Run, and if this six wasn't four, then RCB would have won this do-or-die match with a ball spare‘.

In cricket which is known as the game of margins where a single decision can make all the difference, it is very shocking to see an umpire of the most lucrative T20 tournament in the world make a wrong decision. Moreover, IPL has the best technologies on offer and it is very unfortunate to see despite that, there is a case of the onfield umpire making a wrong boundary signal. Many fans have called this act of the umpire ‘cheating’ while some even labelled it as ‘match-fixing’.