Six or out? DPL match comes to a standstill over a close call

A Dhaka Premier League (DPL) match between Prime Bank and Mohammedan came to a halt for around 10 minutes due to confusion about whether a delivery went for a six or was out on Thursday at Mirpur's Sher-E-Bangla National Cricket Stadium.

The batter was Bangladesh stalwart Mushfiqur Rahim, playing for Prime Bank as they were chasing a target of 318 set by Mohammedan.

In the fourth ball of the 34th over the right-handed batter pulled a delivery by off-spinner Naeem Hasan and he was caught by Abu Hider Rony near the boundary at deep-midwicket as the fielder flung himself in mid-air to take the catch.

Although Mushfiq was given out after a long delay, replays on the Bangladesh Cricket Board's (BCB) official YouTube channel showed Rony had touched the boundary rope despite taking a great catch.

When Rony took the catch his foot touched the boundary rope and although he noticed it, he got up and started celebrating the catch.

Mushfiq who scored 10 runs off 12 balls walked towards the dressing room thinking he was out but after a while but was stopped by the on-field umpires Shathira Zakir Jesy and AIM Moniruzzaman as his wait began.

A few minutes passed like this before Moniruzzaman walked towards Mushfiq and they spoke.

The Prime Bank cricketers who were just outside the boundary were saying something to the umpires after repeatedly watching the replay of the catch from BCB's YouTube channel.

Experienced opener Tamim Iqbal was also watching the scene on his phone.

There is no third umpire in the DPL and as a result, there is no one responsible in any venue to scrutinise specific incidents and make decisions.

Many times, speculative decisions are made and this time Mushfiq became the victim of this as Abu Hider's foot touched the boundary rope when he took the catch but he was still given out.

Since technology is not used, how are these cases decided by the umpires?

In response to such questions, the referee of this match, Rokibul Hasan, told The Business Standard, "The Premier League match being telecasted on BCB channel is not a TV telecast." In these cases what the fielder is saying is heard. The decision taken by the umpire after talking to the fielder is final."