The 2026 Indian Premier League (IPL) saw a major controversy as Angrish Raghuvanshi was dismissed for 'obstructing the field' during the Kolkata Knight Riders' (KKR) clash against the Lucknow Super Giants (LSG) at the Bharat Ratna Shri Atal Bihari Vajpayee Ekana Cricket Stadium in Lucknow. The KKR batter was left fuming after the third umpire gave his decision, which divided opinions.
Raghuvanshi had to depart after making nine runs in nine balls and was the first batter to be given out in this manner during the 2026 season. The 20-year-old nudged a delivery towards mid-on from Prince Yadav and set off for a single. However, he was sent back by Cameron Green after being halfway down the crease.
Raghuvanshi dived to return to the crease as a throw came towards the batter's ends. The ball ended up hitting Raghuvanshi, which resulted in Shami appealing.
After taking a look at the incident, the third umpire Rohan Pandit gave him out as he determined that the ball would have hit the stumps had the KKR batter not come in his way. The match official also stated that the youngster changed his direction while returning towards the crease, and hence it amounted to an 'obstructing the field' dismissal.
The decision has sparked major controversy, as the batter was evidently fuming and smashed his bat on the ground while walking back. The KKR dugout was not happy with the call. The franchise's head coach, Abhishek Nayyar, was evidently angry and charged towards the fourth umpire to seek an explanation on the decision.
The counter-argument towards the dismissal was that Raghuvanshi did not make any deliberate attempt to stop the ball, and it was only in his attempt to dive into the crease that the ball accidentally struck him. Meanwhile, the dismissal only comes into play if a player intentionally stops the ball from hitting the wicket. Further, there is no proof of whether the ball was actually going to even hit the stumps even if Raghuvanshi did not get in its way.
It is expected that the decision will have major implications after the match and be a major talking point.
Raghuvanshi is only the fourth player in IPL's history over the past 19 seasons to be dismissed in this manner. He joined Yousuf Pathan (2013), Amit Mishra (2019), and Ravindra Jadeja (2025) in the unwanted list of players.
Talking about the match, Rishabh Pant won the toss and chose to bowl first. Raghuvanshi's early dismissal added to KKR's woes as they lost six wickets by the 11th over with just 73 runs on the board. Mohsin Khan took all the other wickets as he got the maiden five-for of his career in the league. The left-arm pacer dismissed Tim Seifert, Ajinkya Rahane, Rovman Powell, Cameron Green, and Ankul Roy. He finished his spell with figures of 5/23.
Both KKR and LSG have made poor starts to the season and sit on the bottom two spots. The Knight Riders are 10th on the table with one win in seven games. LSG is ninth with two wins in seven matches. They are currently on a four-match losing streak.
Source: India Latest News, Breaking News Today, Top News Headlines | Times Now
