Former Indian batter: “Was it to keep Dhoni indoors after Cummins withdrew his ‘obstructing the field’ appeal against Jadeja?”

NEW DELHI: In a dramatic turn of events during the Indian Premier League game at Rajiv Gandhi International Stadium in Hyderabad on Friday, Sunrisers Hyderabad captain Pat Cummins withdrew an appeal for obstructing the field against Chennai Super Kings’ Ravindra Jadeja.

This sparked a discussion among cricket commentators.
The incident occurred in the 19th over of the CSK innings when Jadeja jammed a yorker out towards the bowler that SRH pacer Bhuvneshwar Kumar had delivered to him.

After Jadeja played the delivery and was far beyond his crease, Bhuvi threw the ball back towards the stumps, striking Jadeja on the back.
Jadeja seemed to be attempting to avoid getting in the path of the throw rather than obstructing it. However, the umpires on the pitch chose to referee it upstairs. Then Cummins, the captain of SRH, stepped up and retracted the appeal.

Sent in to bat first, CSK found it difficult to put up a strong score, scoring only 165/5 in their 20 overs. The key contributions came from Ajinkya Rahane (35 off 30 balls) and Shivam Dube (brisk 45 off 24 balls), but the squad stumbled in the last five overs, scoring only 37 runs.
Questioning Cummins’ choice, former Indian cricketer Mohammad Kaif said, “Two questions to Pat Cummins on withdrawing the obstructing the field appeal against Jadeja.” Was it a calculated decision to keep Dhoni inside and leave a troubled Jadeja at the crease? If Virat Kohli had been in the World T20, would he have acted in the same way?”

Jadeja played a decent knock, going undefeated at 31 off 23 balls, despite the argument, but the score was ultimately not competitive.
The SRH openers got off to a fast start in their pursuit of CSK’s score, scoring 46 runs in only 2.4 overs. Abhishek Sharma struck an explosive 37 off 12 balls, striking four sixes and three fours during his brief appearance against the CSK’s new ball bowlers.
Following the first assault, SRH were on track for the run chase thanks to 60 runs for the second wicket contributed by Aiden Markram (50 off 36) and Travis Head (31 off 24). With 11 balls remaining, the hosts eventually wrapped up the chase and won convincingly by six wickets.
SRH, who have won two of their last four games, surged up to fifth place in the IPL rankings, while CSK, who have also won two of their last four games, are still in third place.