The second match of Women’s Premier League (WPL) 2025, between Mumbai Indians and Delhi Capitals saw three controversial run-out decisions, which fueled widespread debates. In all three instances, third umpire Gayathri Venugopalan ruled the batters not out, despite the LED stumps lighting up.
Shikha Pandey was the first instance in the 18th over, where her bat was on the crease line when the LED bails lit up, but she was not given out as the bails had not completely dislodged.
Then, in the 19th over, Radha Yadav’s bat was in the air when the bails illuminated, yet the umpire waited for full dislodgement before making the decision. The final run-out occurred on the last ball, where Arundhati Reddy’s bat was still on the line when the stumps lit up, but she was ruled safe after reviewing later frames.
Former Indian captain Mithali Raj expressed her disagreement with two of the decisions involving Shikha Pandey and Radha Yadav. Many experts and fans, too, called for clarity on the use of LED stumps in such scenarios.
Following the controversy, WPL has now clarified, that in run-out and stumping decisions, the wicket will be considered broken only when the LED bails are completely dislodged from the stumps.
Previously, the playing conditions stated that the stumps were deemed broken as soon as the LED lights turned on. However, during this WPL season, it was observed that the bails were lighting up even with minor disturbances, without fully coming off the grooves.
To address this issue, third umpires will now base their final rulings on the moment when the bail becomes completely dislodged and both spigots of the bail have completely separated from the stumps.
This is why third umpire Gayathri Venugopalan, during the Capitals-Mumbai match, made her final rulings on the three run-out decisions by considering the moment when the bails were entirely dislodged from their grooves.
Interestingly, this rule change was communicated to match officials on the morning of the Delhi – Mumbai game, but the teams were only informed the day after the match. Moving forward, this revised rule will be implemented throughout WPL 2025, ensuring greater clarity and fairness in run-out and stumping decisions.
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