The second meeting between Chennai Super Kings and Mumbai Indians in the IPL 2022, billed as the El Clásico of the IPL, started off in a controversial fashion with CSK opener Devon Conway being denied usage of the DRS due to a power cut at the Wankhede Stadium.
To remain alive in the playoff race, CSK needed to win the game against the already eliminated Mumbai Indians. However, CSK got off to a disastrous start as on the second ball, after Ruturaj Gaikwad had taken a single on the first ball, Daniel Sams account for Conway’s wicket, given out on field lbw by umpire Chirra Ravikanthreddy.
Conway wanted to review and take it upstairs, however, he was told that DRS is unavailable at that moment because of a power cutout at the Stadium. Unhappy with it, Conway, who had hit three fifties in the last three matches, took the walk back to the dressing room bagging a golden duck.
Gaikwad too consulted with the umpires about what was happening before MI skipper Rohit Sharma explained to him that the technology was not available.
This led to a spate of memes on Twitter as netizens trolled the BCCI and the IPL for not having proper facilities despite being the richest, biggest T20 league in the world. Some even suggested that play should have been paused until the power and the technology were back up and running.
Here are some of the reactions to this bizarre situation:
#MIvsCSK pic.twitter.com/klDO6Ai7JA
— पोटेटो (@prvs8) May 12, 2022
Power cut in the stadium so no DRS available as of now.
— Johns. (@CricCrazyJohns) May 12, 2022
So Convay got a dodgy LBW decision against him first ball of the game. And couldn’t challenge the decision as DRS isn’t available right now due to power cut at Wankhede. What to say #CSKvsMI
— Vikrant Gupta (@vikrantgupta73) May 12, 2022
Conway please when you return home, don’t tell anyone there you missed your fourth consecutive half century due to powercut in world’s biggest cricket league.
— Silly Point (@FarziCricketer) May 12, 2022
No DRS available on Chennai’s innings due to powercut
#CSKvsMI pic.twitter.com/VWQGAAcBjg
— Roshan Rai (@RoshanKrRaii) May 12, 2022
How can a tournament like IPL say such a silly excuse like there is power cut at the stadium? Shocking stuff.#CSKvMI
— Divakar KS (@divakar_ks) May 12, 2022
Can’t believe we are playing the best T20 league in the world and decision making is affected by power cut ?
— WhistlePodu Army ® – CSK Fan Club (@CSKFansOfficial) May 12, 2022
No DRS for CSK as power cut
— santosh mohapatra (@santosh3027) May 12, 2022
Wosrt Umpiring This Season…
Devon Conwey Was Not Out, But Due To Powercut The DRS Was Not Available…
Now There Should Be No DRS In The Whole Match… Play Fair Pls…#CSKvsMI#MIvsCSK #umpire #IPL2022 pic.twitter.com/GAoQtz2rvr
— H Y P E R ‣‣‣ (@Freak_Hyper_) May 12, 2022
Paint: Power cut in the stadium https://t.co/8ZUGjtfga5
— Kobali (@iamsujeeth) May 12, 2022
Power cut in the stadium so no DRS available as of now. pic.twitter.com/zfcw1ngCAE
— ℳsd Kutty (@its_MsdKutty) May 12, 2022
MI’s luck is so gd tht power cut was happened otherwise Conway would hv bullied these MI bowling attack vry easily……!
— Akram Khan (@AkramK2108) May 12, 2022
bijli ka masla aa giya hy. match ka chhoro ye btawo ky PSL walo ko ab kes muh say troll krengy?
— Neeche Se Topper (@NeecheSeTopper) May 12, 2022
Conway please when you return home, don’t tell anyone there you missed your fourth consecutive half century due to powercut in world’s biggest cricket league.
— Silly Point (@FarziCricketer) May 12, 2022
Many fans reckoned that the ball to Conway was going down leg and the CSK opener could have been saved had DRS been available at that time.
However, while Conway could consider himself unlucky, other CSK batters batted poorly as the MI bowlers ran the show, bowling them out for 97 in 16 overs. MS Dhoni remained unbeaten at 36, while the next biggest contribution to CSK’s total was extras, 15. No other CSK batter could manage more than 12.
