NEW DELHI: The third umpire’s decision on Travis Head‘s controversial run-out created a buzz on social media after the Australian was declared not out, despite his bat being in the air, during the IPL 2024 match between Sunrisers Hyderabad and Rajasthan Royals at the Rajiv Gandhi International Stadium.
The incident occurred in the 15th over of SRH’s innings when in-form opener Travis Head survived a run-out attempt by RR captain and wicketkeeper Sanju Samson.
Head stepped across his stumps to reach a full and wide delivery from Avesh Khan but missed the ball. As he lost balance, he seemed disoriented by the situation.Samson, noticing Head’s confusion, quickly hit the stumps at the batter’s end. Head appeared slow in grounding his bat behind the crease, with the bat in the air as the bails were removed.
Despite this, the third umpire signaled Not Out on the giant screen.
The Rajasthan Royals team, including Kumar Sangakkara, expressed shock and requested clarification from the fourth umpire.

Not only did Rajasthan Royals and their fans criticize the decision, but former India cricketer Irfan Pathan also condemned the third umpire’s call.
Pathan took to his social media and wrote: “Horrible decision again from third umpire. There were two more frames to see. Head’s bat was in the air.”

Unfortunately, Head was unable to capitalize on the opportunity, as he was bowled by Avesh Khan on the very next delivery after scoring 58 runs off 44 balls.