Punjab Kings co-owner Preity Zinta has strongly criticised the third umpire following a controversial call during her team’s IPL 2025 match against Delhi Capitals. The incident occurred in the 15th over of PBKS’ batting innings and has since sparked a heated debate on social media.
Following the match, Zinta expressed her frustration online, emphasizing that such errors are unacceptable in a tournament of this magnitude. Replying to a fan’s post on X (formerly Twitter), she revealed that she had spoken to both Karun Nair and the batter after the match, and both confirmed that the ball had indeed crossed the fence.
Zinta posted, “In such a high-profile tournament with so much technology available to the third umpire, mistakes like this are simply unacceptable. I spoke to Karun after the game and he confirmed it was DEFINITELY a 6! I rest my case!.
Karun Nair’s catch ends in controversy
The controversy unfolded when Shashank Singh played a powerful shot off Mohit Sharma’s final delivery of the over, and it appeared to clear the boundary for six. Karun Nair, stationed at the ropes, attempted a catch before gesturing that the ball had gone over the boundary line. However, after reviewing the footage, the third umpire ruled it a legal fielding effort, concluding that Nair hadn’t touched the boundary while making the play. As a result, Punjab Kings were awarded just a single run instead of the expected six.
Punjab Kings top 2 chances suffer huge blow
Punjab Kings eventually suffered a six-wicket defeat at the hands of Delhi Capitals, a result that significantly dented their hopes of finishing in the top two of the points table.
Now, Punjab Kings face a must-win scenario in their final league stage fixture against the Mumbai Indians. Even then, their qualification for Qualifier 1 is not guaranteed. For PBKS to secure a top-two finish, they must beat Mumbai convincingly and hope for Royal Challengers Bengaluru to lose or win narrowly, and for Gujarat Titans to falter against Chennai Super Kings. Otherwise, Punjab Kings will be pushed into the Eliminator.
