The Royal Challengers Bengaluru (RCB) really came close to losing their key wicket-keeper during a huge chase of 228 runs against Lucknow Super Giants (LSG) in the IPL match on Tuesday. It was the last ball of the 17th over when LSG’s Digvesh Rathi tried to run out RCB’s star at the non-striker’s end. Luckily for RCB, captain Rishabh Pant decided to pull back the appeal while the third umpire looked at the replays.

Jitesh gave Pant a hug as he stepped back from the appeal, allowing him to stay at the crease. If Pant hadn’t done that, rules would have kept Jitesh in the game. Even though he was out of the non-striker’s crease when Rathi broke the stumps, Rathi made a mistake that would have meant Jitesh wouldn’t be out.

According to the rules, a bowler can’t run out a non-striker after finishing their bowling action or stepping out of the popping crease. Since those steps weren’t followed, the third umpire would have eventually ruled Jitesh not out.

There’s a rule that states that a non-striker can be run out anytime from when the ball is in play until the bowler releases it. So, if the non-striker is out of the crease when the bowler puts down the wicket, then the non-striker is out. But once the bowler reaches a certain point in their action, they can’t run out the non-striker anymore.

What Rishabh Pant did, knowing how important Jitesh’s wicket was, is worth commending. In the end, Jitesh became RCB’s hero, winning the match for his team with 8 balls to go.