Imad Wasim’s review leads to ‘chaos’ and controversy in CPL

An lbw decision against Antigua And Barbuda Falcons batter Imad Wasim that swayed between out and not out for over 10 minutes led to “chaos”, controversy and an unusual delay in the CPL game against Trinbago Knight Riders in Port of Spain.

The initial not out decision was briefly overturned by the third umpire Nigel Duguid before Wasim was called back to resume batting, which sparked off animated chats between TKR captain Kieron Pollard and the on-field umpires Christopher Taylor and Patrick Gustard.

The incident happened on the second ball of the tenth over of the chase right after Sunil Narine had Hassan Khan stumped for 36 off 20 balls. Falcons needed another 67 off 65 deliveries when Wasim looked to defend his first ball with a forward press in front of the stumps, and Narine, from around the wicket, pitched the ball on a good length, before it went on to hit Wasim’s pads right in front of middle stump. The loud lbw appeal was first given not out by umpire Taylor, which Narine asked Pollard to review. When Pollard did, ball-tracking showed the ball hitting leg stump, which would have meant a golden duck for Wasim.

Wasim, however, looked confident that he had edged the ball before it hit his pad. He was seen chatting with the umpires before he started walking off, and was even willing to, in turn, review TKR’s review as replays on the big screen showed he had edged it. Falcons coach Curtly Ambrose was watching the replays in the dugout too with the rest of the squad, and was seen gesticulating from just beyond the boundary to protest against Wasim’s dismissal.

The umpire soon reverted his decision to not out after seeing the inside edge, but only to spark off an animated conversation between Pollard and both on-field umpires, with this time the TKR coach Phil Simmons signalling from the dugout. It led to a near 12-minute delay, with the TKR camp clearly unhappy about the eventual decision, and later seeing Wasim hitting the winning runs too.

Despite the loss on Thursday, TKR are still second on the points table. But they have not sealed a playoffs berth yet, and a visibly upset Pollard kept things very short at the presentation. “If I speak, I’ll get into trouble,” he said about the Wasim incident. “So I better stay quiet on that.”

But Falcons captain Chris Green was more expressive of the controversy.

“Chaos, absolute chaos,” Green said. “I don’t know what went on. He was given out when he shouldn’t have been, and then he stood over the rope and he probably shouldn’t have – but he was told to. Absolute chaos. I don’t know what happened, but this tournament continues to entertain in different ways… really happy with the win. We outplayed them in all facets of the game tonight, and we thoroughly deserve that win.”