Sunil Narine's Bat Controversy - Umpire Refuses To Approve It

When KKR openers Sunil Narine and Quinton de Kock came to the crease at Mullanpur, Chandigarh, the umpire paused the game to inspect Narine's bat.

The problem arose when the thickest part of Narine's bat didn't fit within the measurement gauge.

Source : @Vibhor4CSK / X

In an exciting IPL 2025 match on Saturday, Punjab Kings triumphed over Kolkata Knight Riders (KKR) by 16 runs. However, a controversial incident during the match caught everyone's attention.

When KKR openers Sunil Narine and Quinton de Kock came to the crease at Mullanpur, Chandigarh, the umpire paused the game to inspect Narine's bat. To everyone's surprise, the bat was deemed illegal.

Narine's Bat Fails Gauge Test

The problem arose when the thickest part of Narine's bat didn't fit within the measurement gauge. After discussing with umpire Syed Khalid, Narine's bat was found to be non-compliant with the rules. The umpire then checked teammate Angkrish Raghuvanshi's bat, which passed the test without issue.

Glad Narine is getting pulled up at least while batting. pic.twitter.com/GziclyTc1x

— Sunil (@Hitting_Middle) April 16, 2025

Yesterday, the umpire checked Sunil Narine’s bat before KKR’s batting and it didn’t abide by BCCI’s rules.

The rule says:
The blade of the bat must not exceed the following dimensions:
- Width: 4.25 in / 10.8 cm
- Depth: 2.64 in / 6.7 cm
- Edge: 1.56 in / 4.0 cm
- Moreover, it… pic.twitter.com/D1QuXiCkNd

— Vibhor (@Vibhor4CSK) April 16, 2025

Anrich Nortje's bat also found non-compliant

Later in the match, as KKR's innings was crumbling, fast bowler Anrich Nortje was dismissed as the final batsman. However, his bat was also found to be illegal by the umpires, leading to another brief delay as substitute player Rahmanullah Gurbaz brought additional bats to the field.

Raghuvanshi Shines for KKR

In the match against PBKS, Narine managed to score 5 runs off 4 balls. Raghuvanshi, however, stood out as KKR's top scorer, making 37 runs off 28 balls.

According to IPL regulations, the width of the bat's front should not exceed 10.79 cm, the blade should be no thicker than 6.7 cm, and the edge should be limited to 4 cm, with a bat length cap of 96.4 cm.

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