Andre Russell, Sunil Narine, and Nortje’s bats fail the gauge test

During their IPL match against Punjab Kings on Tuesday, three Kolkata Knight Riders’s batsmen, Andre Russell, Sunil Narine and Anrich Nortje’s bats failed the gauge test and were made to replace them. “Umpires have a new toy. Batters coming in with their 2nd choice bats…Check the scores… haha,” Dale Steyn tweeted cheekily late on Wednesday night after the conclusion of the KKR vs Punjab Kings game.
The triangle-shaped plastic gauge has the dimensions of a legal bat printed on it: depth 2.68 inches, width 4.33 inches, edges 1.61 inches. The curve, or the bulge of the bat, seen on the lower non-hitting side of the bat, needs to be within 0.20 inches.
Before this season, bats were not tested on match days; officials would conduct tests on the eve of the game. But this system had an obvious loophole: some batsmen would turn up for the game with different bats.
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When Andre Russell came out to bat against Punjab Kings in the 11th over, the umpire Saidharshan Kumar adminered the gauge test and the bat failed to pass through.

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Narine’s incident happened before the start of the KKR chase. Since he is an opener, Narine’s bat was checked beyond the boundary just prior to his batting stint. The fourth umpire Saiyed Khalid was seen checking the bats of Narine and Angkrish Raghuvanshi, who were standing beside the boundary. Khalid could be seen in a video, trying the gauge and failing to clear the thickest part of the bat. Narine then says something to him, and the umpire tries again but with similar results. He then passes the gauge through Raghuvanshi’s bat without any issue.
When Nortje came to bat at the end of the 15th over, he too failed the gauge test and the substitute player Rahmanullah Gurbaz ran out with the replacement bat that was deemed legal.
But Nortje didn’t face a ball as Russell fell the very next delivery, inside-edging a heave as Punjab Kings pulled off a stunning victory. Story continues below this ad
Speaking to The Indian Express, IPL chairman Arun Dhumal had earlier said the decision was taken to ensure fairness on the field. “Nobody should feel that somebody’s got an undue advantage,” he said. “The BCCI and IPL have always taken all initiatives in this direction so that fairness of the game is maintained. We have used technology to the maximum to make sure that all decisions can be reviewed so that the games don’t get unfairly affected. The idea behind this initiative is to ensure that the spirit of the game is maintained,” Dhumal said.
Delhi Capitals’s fast bowler Mohit Sharma had a light-hearted take on the bat checks, saying, ”That’s really good, please check those bats. As it is we have been seeing such big sixes. If a bat or two are caught oversized then ban them also.”