During Tuesday's IPL 2024 match between Royal Challengers Bengaluru (RCB) and Lucknow Super Giants (LSG), a controversy broke out as Digvesh Rathi attempted to 'Mankad' Jitesh Sharma.

The incident occurred on the final delivery of the 17th over, when RCB were chasing a 228-run target against LSG at the Ekana Stadium in Lucknow. On the first ball of that over, Rathi had Jitesh caught. But since it was a no-ball, he conceded a six off the free hit.

With RCB requiring 29 off 19 balls and Jitesh in destructive form, Rathi tried to 'Mankad' him. He stopped before delivering the final ball of the over and removed the bails at the non-striker's end, with Jitesh clearly out of his crease.

The decision was referred to the third umpire, Ulhas Gandhe, who declared Jitesh not out. While the commentators said that LSG captain Rishabh Pant had withdrawn the appeal, that was not the reason Jitesh was given not out.

According to section 38.3.1 of the IPL 2025 Playing Conditions, “If the non-striker is out of his/her ground at any time from the moment the ball comes into play until the instant when the bowler would normally have been expected to release the ball, the non-striker is liable to be Run out by the bowler attempting to run him/her out.

In these circumstances, the non-striker will be out Run out if he/she is out of his/her ground when his/her wicket is broken by the bowler throwing the ball at the wicket or by the bowler’s hand holding the ball, whether or not the ball is subsequently delivered.”

According to the MCC's Laws of Cricket (section 38.3.1.1), “The instant when the bowler would normally have been expected to release the ball is defined as the moment the bowler’s arm reaches the highest point of his/her normal bowling action in the delivery swing.”

So was it a wrong call from the third umpire to rule Jitesh not out? While reviewing the incident, the third umpire said, “The bowler has passed his delivery stride in his popping crease,” before giving her verdict in the matter. However, neither the IPL Playing Conditions nor the MCC Laws mention the bowler's delivery stride or popping crease as having any bearing on the legality of a run-out attempt of this kind.

The only condition that needs to be fulfilled is that the bowler must attempt a run out before their arm “reaches the highest point of his/her normal bowling action in the delivery swing.”

Rathi was clearly not at the highest point of his delivery release, therefore making his run-out attempt legal. However, in this case, even if the third umpire had given Jitesh out, he would have remained not out, thanks to Pant withdrawing the appeal (as he is entitled to do).

Former umpire Anil Chaudhary said Jitesh was out. "It is his (TV umpire Gandhe's) opinion, but I felt he (Jitesh) was out. It is a separate issue that Rishabh Pant withdrew the appeal, but according to the law, he (Rathi) removed the bails before reaching the release point, like you would have seen Ashwin do 2-3 years back. So I felt it was out, but we respect the opinion of the TV umpire."

Jitesh remained unbeaten on 85 off 33 balls as RCB chased down the target with eight balls to spare and qualified for the playoffs as the second-placed team.

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