“Would love to hear Hawkeye’s explanation for this” - Aakash Chopra reacts to Chamari Athapaththu’s controversial dismissal in WPL 2024

Former India cricketer Aakash Chopra has said that he ‘would love to hear Hawkeye’s explanation’ over Chamari Athapaththu’s controversial dismissal in the Women’s Premier League 2024 game between UP Warriorz and Royal Challengers Bangalore.

RCB beat UPW by 23 runs in the 11th game of WPL 2024 at the M. Chinnaswamy Stadium in Bengaluru on Monday, March 4. A controversy erupted after UP Warriorz batter Athapaththu was adjudged lbw to leg-spinner Georgia Wareham after RCB had taken the DRS.

A tossed-up delivery from Wareham dipped in front of the batter and hit her on the pad as she missed her sweep. Ball-tracking returned three reds, but the delivery spun in the opposite direction to a traditional leg-spinner after pitching, shocking both Athapaththu and UPW captain Alyssa Healy, who was at the non-striker’s end.

Sharing his thoughts on the contentious DRS decision, Chopra tweeted:

“This is a leg-spin delivery. The ball pitches really close to the foot. Hawkeye’s projection takes it as a straight ball/googly…shows hitting the middle stump. Would love to hear Hawkeye’s explanation for this.

“Do more errors happen when the ball is pitching really close to the impact on the pads? Remember Joe Root’s LBW was a half-volley too,” he added.

In the India vs England Ranchi Test, Root was adjudged lbw to Ravichandran Ashwin after India had taken the DRS, but there was a huge debate over whether the ball had pitched in line of the leg stump. To the naked eye, it seemed like most of the ball had pitched outside the leg stump.

Former England captain Michael Vaughan described the decision as a shocker, claiming that more than half the ball was outside the leg stump.

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“Incredibly frustrating” - UPW coach on Athapaththu

After the WPL 2024 match, UP Warriorz coach Jon Lewis described the manner of Athapaththu’s dismissal as incredibly frustrating and termed it a massive turning point in the game.

"You watch the ball with the naked eye, and you think it might pitch in line, just maybe. Then you look at the ball rotating, and well, it's rotating like a leg-spinner.

"There are not many leg-spinners that go towards that [other] side. It was a fascinating dismissal and a massive turning point for us in that game… So to lose her in that way was incredibly frustrating,” Lewis said.

Chasing 199 to win, UP Warriorz were held to 175-8, with four RCB bowlers claiming two wickets each. Athapaththu was the second wicket to fall with the score at 63.