Home
In the first match of the Indian Premier League (IPL) 2025 season, Royal Challengers Bengaluru (RCB) easily defeated the defending champion Kolkata Knight Riders (KKR). KKR only managed to reach 174, which RCB easily chased down in 16.2 overs. West Indies great Sunil Narine, who hammered 44 off 26 balls, significantly increased KKR's total. However, the umpire did not give Narine a hit-wicket call, which was controversial.
Narine drops the bails accidentally
When the bails unexpectedly fell during his knock, RCB was left wondering. Replays suggested that Narine may have knocked them over with his bat, and it seemed to be Virat Kohli who brought the matter to their attention.
"How did the bails fall off," Kohli was seen asking RCB wicket-keeper Jitesh Sharma.
"I don't know, I wasn't paying attention. My eyes were on the ball," Jitesh replied.
Although replays suggested that Narine's bat swing may have overturned the bails, neither the RCB nor the umpires made any effort to get the ruling overturned. Narine might have been dismissed hit-wicket if he had been found guilty of knocking the bails over while the ball was in play. KKR reached 107/1 in 9.5 overs with Narine's 103-run partnership with Ajinkya Rahane, who ended up smashing 44 off 26 balls, hitting five boundaries, and three sixes.
But the Knight Riders were unable to bounce back from the collapse that began with Narine's dismissal on the last ball of the tenth over. Ajinkya Rahane left after three balls after smashing 56 off 31 balls. As Venkatesh Iyer (6), Rinku Singh (12), and Andre Russell (4) all fell short of their potential, KKR's star-studded middle order collapsed. After the IPL 2025 mega auction, the three players are valued at a total of Rs 48.75 crore.
