The Marylebone Cricket Club (MCC) has backed the third umpire’s decision to rule Angkrish Raghuvanshi out ‘obstructing the field’ during an IPL 2026 clash between Kolkata Knight Riders (KKR) and Lucknow Super Giants (LSG) on April 26.

Raghuvanshi became just the fourth player in the IPL to be given out ‘obstructing the field’. The incident occurred when Raghuvanshi attempted a sharp single at the end of the fifth over when he pushed the ball to mid-on, but he was sent back by his partner Cameron Green. Raghuvanshi took off for the run from the off side, ran down the middle of the pitch and then turned around towards the leg side, and put in a drive to try to make his ground, as the throw hit him. Following an appeal from the LSG fielders, Raguhvanshi was deemed out by the third umpire Rohan Pandit.

In a clarification issued by the MCC on Thursday, it cited Law 37.1.1, which says that a batter is out obstructing the field if they “wilfully attempt to obstruct or distract the fielding side by word or action”. Since the deliberate nature of the obstruction is hard to determine, the MCC pointed to an interpretation published in Tom Smith’s Cricket Umpiring and Scoring, the MCC’s official interpretation of the laws.

It states that “a batter who changes direction while running, particularly one who changes direction to run on the pitch, or takes any other route that would not be the quickest way to the other end, is making a wilful act”.

Raghuvanshi, according to the MCC, “clearly” met the above criteria. The statement further said that Raghuvanshi crossing to the middle of the pitch “is not somewhere he should be running in any event”, and he had moved from the off side to the leg side, hence putting himself between the ball and the wicket. “This is, by definition, a wilful act.”

The clarification further said had Raghuvanshi stayed on the off side, the ball would not have hit him and there would have been no question of an obstruction. “It is the wilful crossing of the pitch that caused his downfall,” the MCC statement said.

MCC also said that the question of whether Raghuvanshi made his crease or not doesn’t arise as “whether a dismissal was likely is not a criterion in Obstructing the field”.

Raghuvanshi’s contentious dismissal had become a talking point with the KKR support staff unhappy with the third umpire’s decision. Head coach Abhishek Nayar was also seen talking to the fourth umpire. Raghuvanshi too showed his displeasure after being given out as he walked off, waving his bat and then slamming the boundary cushion before throwing his helmet away. He was fined 20% of his match fee and handed a demerit point for breaching the IPL’s code of conduct. A topsy-turvy game eventually went KKR’s way in a Super Over.