Catch or six? Ruckus over Heinrich Klaasen’s catch, SRH batsman enraged after controversial decision

By Samira Vishwas On Mar 29, 2026

The opening match of IPL 2026 saw a major controversy when Heinrich Klaasen was caught out on the boundary. The decision of the third umpire regarding this catch of Phil Salt came under question. After this decision, Klaasen appeared very angry and an argument was also seen on the field.

In the first match of IPL 2026 being played at M Chinnaswamy Stadium, Bengaluru, there was excitement as well as controversy between Royal Challengers Bangalore and Sunrisers Hyderabad. RCB captain Rajat Patidar won the toss and decided to bowl first, but during the match, a moment came which caught everyone’s attention.

Actually, this whole drama happened on the first ball of the 14th over of the innings. Romario Shepherd, who was bowling, bowled a short ball on Klaasen’s body, on which he tried to play a strong shot. The ball went in the air and was caught by Phil Salt standing at the deep midwicket boundary. However, he was very close to the boundary, due to which the matter immediately went to the third umpire.

The picture was not completely clear in the replay. Third umpire Rohan Pandit did not get the angle from above, which made the decision more difficult. He noticed that there was not much movement in the boundary cushion and on this basis, Klaasen was given out.

Your call. I believe the cushion was clearly displaced by Salt’s feet while completing the catch. Not out and six, bad call, don’t know how you can fluff that up as a third umpire. Klaasen was not out.#IPL2026 pic.twitter.com/7HzMiQqSvR
— Adarsh (@adarshisit) March 28, 2026

However, in some camera angles it appeared that Salt’s foot had slightly touched the boundary cushion, which further increased the controversy. Some fans and experts also believed that it should have been a six. After being given out, Heinrich Klaasen looked very angry and was seen arguing with the fourth umpire. However, in the end he had to accept the decision and had to return to the pavilion after scoring 31 runs.

Talking about the match, Sunrisers Hyderabad batted first and scored a strong score of 201 runs. For the team, Ishan Kishan played a brilliant inning of 80 runs in 38 balls, while Aniket Verma scored 43 runs in 18 balls. Klaasen (31 runs) also made an important contribution.