The umpire’s call is equivalent to gospel in cricket — it always has been that way. The Rajasthan Royals army showcased a similar attitude on Sunday after skipper Riyan Parag took a screamer to his right at a crucial juncture of the game, even though replays showed he might have grassed the ball.
Rajasthan Royals seized complete control of their encounter against Chennai Super Kings in Guwahati on Sunday after a scintillating opening ball spell from Jofra Archer restricted the visitors to 42/1 in the powerplay during a pursuit of 183. The departure of Rahul Tripathi immediately post the lifting of fielding restrictions made a further dent in the Yellow Army’s hopes, and they essentially ended for good when Wanindu Hasaranga got rid of Shivam Dube albeit most of the credit went to Riyan Parag and for good reason.
Dube was looking in fine touch as he struck two early sixes to race to 18 at a strike rate of 200, and tried to add to his tally with an inside shot midway through the 10th over. The Kookaburra seemed destined to pierce the gap through covers and had nearly done so when Parag went sprinting to his right at short extra-cover and put in a full-length leap. Even as the white rock dipped and was about to hit the deck, Parag somehow slipped his fingers under the ball and it stuck to his palm while Parag thudded to the ground.
The Royals skipper immediately wheeled away in celebration with his teammates in pursuit but the umpires were not as thrilled yet as they went upstairs to check the catch. Replays showed that while the catch was fair, Parag might have dragged the ball across the turd in the follow-through but the zoomed visuals were blurred enough to give him the benefit of the doubt and signal Dube to return to the dugout. Twitterati had a lot to say about the incident.
Dube Gone
Superb
WHAT A CATCH BY PARAG! ☝🏽
Dube OUT! 18 (10)
CSK need 111 off 63 🤷🏽♂️#ipl #RRvCSK pic.twitter.com/nmqCCRficJ— Harinder Sekhon (@harinsekhonn) March 30, 2025
One more brilliant catch for the day !!!
Dube gone!#CSKvsRR #IPL2025 #dube #RajasthanRoyals #MSDhoni𓃵 pic.twitter.com/hbnV0tTFnl— Raghu Rajaram (@RaghuTweetzX) March 30, 2025
Splendid
Gone
And that’s what Dube gets and Riyan pulls off a very good catch.
Now the batting order is important, what is your plan to hit spin? The rate is 11 so not too high but still good enough for 11 overs. https://t.co/OsHcS3MC9l— Nikhil 🏏 (@CricCrazyNIKS) March 30, 2025
Dube out 😬
Parag super catch ra 🔥🔥#CSKvRR— 🐦🔥 (@ethanhawk_01) March 30, 2025
Damn
Damn Riyan literally saved Wanindu & his own call to give him over here. Dube would’ve got 24+ easily. What a catch though… Massive wicket.
— arfan (@Im__Arfan) March 30, 2025
Crazy
What a Catch…..By Riyan Parag#RRvCSK #CSKvsRR #RiyanParag #MSDhoni𓃵 #ChennaiSuperKings pic.twitter.com/gRaxSvJd4a
— Vaayu (@Vaayu_Ki_Gati) March 30, 2025
WHAT. A. CATCH! 🤯 Riyan Parag, you beauty! 💥 Snatches one out of thin air to send Shivam Dube packing! 🔥 #RRvsCSK #IPL2025 #CSKvsRR pic.twitter.com/KiJCefBoav
— Kunal (@Kunalra29045821) March 30, 2025
Fair one?
