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[Watch] Controversy! Ajinkya Rahane Leaves Venkatesh Iyer Confused In SMAT 2024 Final

Jatin

Ajinkya Rahane's catch sent Venkatesh Iyer packing [Source: @21OneTwo34/x.com]Ajinkya Rahane's catch sent Venkatesh Iyer packing [Source: @21OneTwo34/x.com]

In the high-stakes Syed Mushtaq Ali Trophy 2024-25 final at the M Chinnaswamy Stadium, Ajinkya Rahane and Venkatesh Iyer, both set to don the Kolkata Knight Riders jersey in IPL 2025, found themselves on opposite sides. Rahane pulled off a game-changing, yet controversial, catch to dismiss Iyer, and it’s got everyone talking.

KKR Duo Collides as Rahane’s Disputed Catch Ends Iyer’s Stay at the Crease

It all went down on the first ball of the 13th over. Mumbai’s Suryansh Shedge bowled a short-of-length delivery outside off, tempting Venkatesh Iyer to go for the cut. But the Madhya Pradesh all-rounder couldn’t quite control the shot. The ball flew to backward point, where Rahane scooped it up with a low dive.

Here’s where it got tricky. Ajinkya Rahane himself wasn’t sure if the ball had carried or bounced just before his fingers. He immediately signalled to the umpires to take it upstairs.

The third umpire, KN Anantha Padmanabhan, was called in and had his work cut out. The replays didn’t provide a conclusive answer. Usually, when there’s doubt, the benefit goes to the batter. But this time, after several looks, the decision went in favour of the bowling side.


Iyer was dismissed for 17 off 9 balls, just when he and Rajat Patidar were starting to build momentum. The wicket was a critical moment in the game as it broke MP’s budding partnership and put Mumbai back in control.

At the time of writing this article, MP is 114/5 after 15 overs with Patidar and Rahul Batham in the middle, trying to help their side put up a huge total in this class of monumental proportions.

KKR Connection

Meanwhile, what made the Rahane-Iyer moment even spicier was the IPL connection. Rahane, who will play for KKR in the 2025 season after being picked for his base price of ₹1.5 crore, sent his soon-to-be teammate Venkatesh Iyer, KKR’s ₹23.75 crore star signing, back to the dugout. While these two will soon share the same dressing room, on Sunday, it was all about fierce competition.