Pro Kabaddi League 2017 Season 5: Five talking points from Day 12 of PKL 5

#4 The umpiring goof up that changed the game

The Bulls couldn't finish their home leg with a win due to a fine performance by Tamil Thalaivas

The score read 23-25 with just 100 seconds left on the clock. After struggling to make inroads in the first half, the Bulls brilliantly emulated the Thalaivas' feat from the last game and clawed their way back into the contest. That’s when Ashish Kumar went in to take the decisive raid. What followed was utter chaos.

Kumar claimed a touch on the left corner after which he jumped into the lobby while his team was awarded two points. He got one more point as a Thalaivas defender unsuccessfully challenged him on his retreat. The Thalaivas, knowing the importance of the points, went upstairs for a review.

The replays proved inconclusive and it seemed that on account of running into the lobby, Kumar would be sent off and Thalaivas would get the point. In a perplexing turn of events, the umpires gifted both teams a point each.

Question marks remained over how Kumar could have got one point for the running touch and not another point for overcoming the charging defender’s challenge.

One can only wonder how the last 100 seconds would have panned out had the review gone in favour of the Bulls.