In the final Super-4 match of the 2025 Asia Cup, Team India set a target of 203 runs for Sri Lanka to win. Sri Lanka responded with impressive batting, with Pathum Nissanka and Kusal Perera’s explosive performance changing the course of the match. However, a peculiar incident during Sri Lanka’s innings left everyone puzzled. Despite a six being hit, Sri Lanka wasn’t awarded six runs. This was due to a mistake by Team India.
This event occurred in the sixth over of Sri Lanka’s innings, when Varun Chakravarthy was bowling. On the third ball of the over, just as Varun Chakravarthy was beginning his run-up, the umpire signaled a dead ball before he could deliver the ball. However, Varun didn’t notice and bowled the ball anyway. Pathum Nissanka, who was batting, played an aggressive shot on the short ball, which went to Axar at long-on. Axar tried to catch the ball, but it slipped out of his hands and went outside the boundary. In other words, Pathum Nissanka had successfully hit a six, but the team wasn’t awarded six runs.
The umpire, Izatullah Safi’s decision disappointed everyone. The umpire declared it a dead ball, and under the rules of a dead ball, the shot was not considered valid. Neither wickets are taken, nor runs are added on a dead ball. But the biggest question is why the umpire declared this ball dead. The reason was Abhishek Sharma.