Rohit Sharma's LBW dismissal against Rajasthan Royals sparked controversy due to a delayed DRS call. Despite the controversy, Mumbai Indians secured a dominant 100-run victory, solidifying their position at the top of the points table.

A controversy erupted over Mumbai Indians star batter Rohit Sharma’s DRS call for his LBW dismissal during the IPL 2025 clash against Rajasthan Royals at the Sawai Mansingh Stadium in Jaipur on Thursday, May 1.

MI registered their sixth win on the trot with a 100-run victory over Rajasthan Royals to move to the top of the points table with 14 points from seven wins in their 11 outings. After posting a total of 217/2, thanks to collective batting effort by Ryan Rickelton (61), Rohit Sharma (53), Suryakumar Yadav (48*) and skipper Hardik Pandya (48*), MI bowlers bundled out RR for 117 in 16.5 overs. MI pace bowling attack triggered an early collapse in Royals’ batting in the powerplay, reducing the hosts to 47/5 in 4.5 overs.

Karn Sharma chipped in to further collapse the hosts’ batting as the Rajasthan Royals posted a total of 91/9 in 11.5 overs before Jofra Archer (30) and Akash Madhwal (4*) formed a 26-run stand for the 10th wicket to take the hosts past the 100-run mark. MI wrapped up the match after Trent Boult dismissed Archer to seal a dominant 100-run win and cap off a clinical all-round performance.

Rohit Sharma’s DRS controversy

Amid the discussion on Mumbai Indians’ unbeaten run in the last six matches, Rohit Sharma’s DRS controversy became a major talking point from the match. The incident took place in the second over of the MI’s innings, when Rohit completely missed the delivery by RR pacer Fazalhaq Farooqui as it crashed onto his pads and the umpire gave him out. After discussing with batting partner, Rohit reluctantly went for DRS.

However, Rohit Sharma decided to take the DRS only after the 15-second timer for the player to review was clearly expired, leading to controversy over why the third umpire allowed the review to go through. The decision sparked outrage among the fans on social media, who questioned the umpire’s bias towards Mumbai Indians. The player is allowed to take DRS within a 15-second timer and after that, any appeal for a review is considered invalid.

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The on-field decision to give out to Rohit Sharma was overturned and he was declared not out after the ball-tracking showed that delivery was pitched outside leg though it did the stumps, thereby making him not out as per the LBW rule.

Was Rohit Sharma out?

Another controversy around the same incident whether Rohit Sharma was actually out. Fazalhaq Farooqui pitched the ball outside leg stump, which gave reprieve to the MI star batter as per the ICC’s LBW rule, which states that the batter cannot be given out if the ball is pitched outside the leg stump.

The decision was overturned after 50% of the ball was pitched outside leg stump by Farooqui and Rohit Sharma continued his innings. The fans were a little suspicious about the umpire’s call on Mumbai Indians opener’s LBW, stating that if the 50% of the ball was indeed outside the leg stump, then the on-field decision should have been upheld.

However, the Laws of Cricket, specifically Law 36, states that any ball pitched outside the leg stump, partially or fully, cannot be given out. Therefore, Rohit Sharma’s dismissal was correctly overturned, and he was rightly declared not out according to the rules of the game.

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Meanwhile, Rohit Sharma has been in a brilliant form after poor returns in the first few matches of the ongoing IPL season. Former Mumbai Indians skipper is currently the third-leading run-getter for the side in IPL 2025, amassing 293 runs, including 3 fifties, at an average of 32.55 and a strike rate of 155.02 in 10 matches.