As Mumbai Indians defeated Delhi Capitals by five wickets to end the latter's hopes of making the IPL 2022 playoffs, the focus was on a decision by Rishabh Pant not to take a review after Tim David had seemingly nicked the ball behind. The umpire gave it not out, and after a long consultation with the bowler Shardul Thakur, Pant eventually opted against the review. Replays showed that the ball had indeed been edged by David, who went on to punish Delhi by smashing 34 off 11 deliveries to set the win up for his team.
Former India head coach Ravi Shastri was mystified by Pant's decision of not going for the DRS and said that common sense demanded that he take the review, as they had two reviews left and five overs to go.
"What does common sense demand? Okay, there's Rishabh Pant and Shardul Thakur, but what are the others doing there? Common sense demands five overs left, two reviews, Tim David has just come in, you've taken a wicket and you have a great opportunity of taking two wickets quickly. And still five overs to go. And you having the upper hand, you had to take it," Shastri said on Star Sports after the match before adding that "it's a no-brainer."
"This is a bitter pill to swallow. It's like a balloon that burst above them. They are going to have sleepless nights over this one, because it's a place for the play-offs that you've missed out on," he said.
The defeat meant Royal Challengers Bangalore remained in fourth place, with Delhi not getting the two points they needed to make the play-offs.
"They have only themselves to blame, nothing else. No excuses, you can't hide behind anything, you lost it, more than Mumbai Indians winning it. You didn't deserve to qualify and RCB do," Shastri said.
RCB join Gujarat Titans, Rajasthan Royals and Lucknow Super Giants in the playoffs.