IPL 2026 had its first controversy in the very first match. During SRH’s innings against RCB, Heinrich Klaasen was caught for a boundary by Phil Salt. And this decision did not convince many people.
It happened on the first ball of the 14th over. Romario Shepherd jumped briefly and Klaasen swung hard. The ball sailed to the deep mid-wicket boundary where Salt took a catch. The on-field umpires turned to the third umpire to check whether Salt had touched the boundary pad.
Third umpire Rohan Pandit reviewed the records. However, he only had two camera angles to work with. He felt that the boundary pads had not moved and declared Klaasen out.
However, several recordings showed the Kingfisher logo cushion moving slightly, possibly due to contact with Salt’s shoe. Social media immediately exploded.
Many fans felt that Salt had clearly touched the rope and the ball should have been called a six. Others claimed that the movement was just a shadow.
When Star Sports shared a clip of the catch, it only added to the confusion. The clip was captioned: “What just happened?”
In the clip, the third referee apparently said: “The backs are touching the cushion. I’m ready with my decision.” Then it was shown OUT on the giant screen.
But on JioHotstar Match Highlights, the third umpire was heard saying, “I don’t see any movement on the cushion.”
“It wasn’t out or you have to show exclusive footage,” the social media user wrote.
“Obviously it’s not possible, why not have a cam on the back? It’s a big shame to make this decision,” responded another user.
Another user wrote: “There were doubts about this catch. The 3rd umpire didn’t have the back angle footage either. He too seemed to make a decision on the screen in a hurry.”
This report is based on user generated content from social media. LiveMint has not independently verified and does not endorse these claims.
RCB vs SRH: What happened in yesterday’s match?
The tournament was launched at the M Chinnaswamy Stadium in Bengaluru. Bengaluru have started their IPL 2026 title defense in style.
SRH posted 201/9 in 20 overs with interim skipper Ishan Kishan blazing 80 off 38 balls. Aniket Verma contributed a handy 43 off 18 while Heinrich Klaasen added 31. For RCB, Jacob Duffy and Romario Shepherd were the pick of the bowlers with 3 wickets each.
Devdutt Padikkal set the tone with a flamboyant 61 off just 26 balls. Skipper Rajat Patidar chipped in with 31 off 12. Virat Kohli anchored the innings with an unbeaten 69 off 38, taking RCB over the line with 26 balls to spare.
Jacob Duffy was named man of the match for his figures of 3/22 in 4 overs.
