The Rajapaksa confusion
Confusion was triggered over the dismissal of Cumilla Warriors batsman Bhanuka Rajapasksa off a no-ball during yesterday’s day game of the Bangabandhu Bangladesh Premier League against Dhaka Platoon, which halted the game for around two minutes.
Rajapakse was batting on 20 and tried to hit a six off Dhaka pacer Wahab Riaz in the fifth ball of the fifth over but was caught by Mahedi Hasan at deep square-leg.
The Sri Lankan opener immediately walked off the ground and new batsman Yasir Ali Chowdhury came to the middle. However, television replay later revealed that Wahab had overstepped. On-field umpires Gazi Sohel and Prageeth Rambukwella soon called Rajapaksa back to the middle, which irked Dhaka Platoon players and coaching staff in the dugout.
Dhaka’s senior player Tamim Iqbal was seen asking the on-field umpires about the decision while head coach Mohammad Salahuddin looked shocked at the dugout as the umpires called Rajapaksa back.
“It does not matter that the batsman left the field of play. The umpires can ask a batsman back to the middle until the next ball is bowled if they think it was not out. But the on-field umpires should have been careful and should have stopped the batsman from leaving until they were certain,” match referee Raquibul Hasan told the media after the incident.
The right-handed batsman went on to hit a 65-ball 96 as Cumilla posted a fighting 160 for three.
However, Rajapakse’s effort eventually went in vain as Dhaka won the game by five wickets.
The 28-year-old said that it was a god-gifted chance that he managed to utilise.
“It was given out initially and I was standing outside the boundary and the fourth umpire wanted me to go to the dressing room. It was a god-gifted chance and I wanted to utilise it to the maximum,” Rajapakse said at the post-match press conference.
At the time of the incident, commentators wondered what would have happened had Rajapakse gone for a shower when he was called back, “No, I wait till the match is over to get a shower. I just took my pads off but fortunately, they called me back to the crease,” he said.
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