Credit: X
During the match 18th of the Indian Premier League (IPL) 2024, Pat Cummins withdrew an “obstructing the field” appeal against Ravindra Jadeja in a dramatic moment at the Rajiv Gandhi International Stadium in Hyderabad. Following this, Mohammad Kaif, the former Indian cricketer, called out the Sunrisers Hyderabad captain, asking whether it was a tactical call to keep MS Dhoni of Chennai Super Kings away from marching down to the middle, and if he would do the same against Virat Kohli at the upcoming T20 World Cup 2024.
Although the withdrawal of the “obstructing the field” appeal from Pat Cummins in the 19th over, didn’t have a massive impact on the Chennai Super Kings innings. They managed to put up a decent total of 165/5 on the board against Sunrisers Hyderabad, thanks mainly to the clean ball striking from Shivam Dube at No. 4, who scored 45 off 24, with two fours and four maximums.
Mohammad Kaif took to his official X account to spark a debate around the decision from Pat Cummins to withdraw the appeal during an IPL 2024 match and asked him a couple of questions. His post read, “Two questions to Pat Cummins on withdrawing the obstructing the field appeal against Jadeja. Was it a tactical call to let a struggling Jadeja be the crease and keep Dhoni indoors? Would he have done the same if it was Virat Kohli at (the) World T20?”
Moreover, in their pursuit of a 166-run target, Abhishek Sharma gave a fiery start to Sunrisers Hyderabad, scoring 37 runs off just 12 balls, an innings which included three fours and four maximums, to put his team way above the required run rate. Travis Head and Aiden Markram stitched together a 60-run partnership for the second wicket to put SRH on the brink of a victory, which was sealed in the 19th over with Heinrich Klaasen and Nitish Kumar Reddy staying unbeaten.
With this massive win, Sunrisers Hyderabad jumped to fifth place on the IPL 2024 points table, while Chennai Super Kings stayed in third place, courtesy of their superior NRR.
Here is the clip of Pat Cummins not appealing for "obstructing the field" against Ravindra Jadeja: