Why Kohli's dismissal against KKR was not a no-ball

The new Hawk-Eye technology to determine no-balls for height came into play during Virat Kohli's dismissal in RCB's chase against KKR at Eden Gardens on Sunday.

Kohli was out for 18 off 7 balls in RCB's chase of 223, caught and bowled off a high full toss from Harshit Rana in the third over, having played the ball well outside his crease. It was a slower delivery that seemed to be dipping on the batter, even though it was above the waist height when Kohli made contact with it.

The TV umpire Michael Gough checked whether the delivery was legal for height and, according to the new Hawk-Eye ball tracking technology, the ball would have passed the batter at 0.92 metres from the ground if he was upright at the crease. The height of Kohli's waist has been measured at 1.04 metres, which means the ball would have passed below his waist had he been on his crease and not outside it, making it a legal delivery.

Kohli was unhappy with the decision and was seen expressing his displeasure at the on-field umpire, along with the non-striker Faf du Plessis, who also thought it should have been a no-ball for height.

To remove the subjective element in adjudicating no-balls above the waist this season, the IPL has introduced technology to measure the height of the ball as it passes the batter at the popping crease. That is then matched against the toe-to-waist height of the batter when in an upright position, which is measured and recorded in advance. If the height of the ball is higher than the recorded height of the batter's waist, then it is declared a no-ball. Otherwise it's a fair delivery.

In this case, the project trajectory of the ball would have taken it 0.12 metres below Kohli's waist had he been upright on his crease.