Why was no-ball called in dc's innings despite will jacks not overstepping? Cricket's off-side rule explained

THE NO-BALL PROVED TO BE COSTLY FOR THE MUMBAI INDIANS AS WILL JACKS ENDED UP CONCEDING A SIX AND A COUPLE OF FOURS IN THAT OVER. HOWEVER, OVERALL IT WAS AN UNFORGETTABLE DAY FOR THE MUMBAI

INDIANS, WHO ON THE BACK OF SEVEN WINS IN THEIR LAST EIGHT MATCHES QUALIFIED FOR THE IPL 2025 PLAYOFFS. Mumbai: It was a night that the Mumbai Indians won't forget anytime soon, despite

having an iffy first 18 overs of batting, after being put in first by the Delhi Capitals in damp conditions. 48 runs off the last two overs injected the much-needed momentum into Mumbai

Indians' innings and 181 after losing three wickets in the powerplay was always going to be a tough ask for an underconfident Delhi unit, which is struggling to get two points on the

board since April 22. Faf du Plessis and KL Rahul were both dismissed cheaply by Deepak Chahar and Trent Boult, respectively, before Will Jacks was introduced into the attack to take care of

the left-hander, Abishek Porel, which he did. Porel was late in landing his foot inside the popping crease before Ryan Rickelton had stumped him out. However, the very next ball was called

illegal by the umpires not because Jacks had overstepped or bowled a waist-high delivery. It was because the Mumbai Indians had just three fielders on the off-side. At any instance of the

game, a fielding side can't have more than five fielders on the on side as per Rule 28.4, which relates to "Limitation of on side fielders." _Rule 28.4.1 - "At the

instant of delivery, there may not be more than 5 fielders on the on side."_ _Rule 28.4.2 - "At the instant of the bowler’s delivery there shall not be more than two fielders,

other than the wicket-keeper, behind the popping crease on the on side. A fielder will be considered to be behind the popping crease unless the whole of his person whether grounded or in the

air is in front of this line."_ The umpire can signal a no-ball "in the event of infringement of this clause by any fielder" as per the IPL playing conditions as well as the

MCC Laws. The umpires were alert enough and Jacks and captain Hardik Pandya had to bring one extra fielder on the off-side in the circle, with the two fielders outside the inner ring being

on the leg side.  The no-ball proved to be costly for the Mumbai Indians as Will Jacks ended up conceding a six and a couple of fours in that over, with Vipraj Nigam taking the attack to the

opposition. However, the fun only lasted for a bit as Jasprit Bumrah and Mitchell Santner ran through the Delhi Capitals' line-up to secure a magnificent 59-run victory for the hosts

and the five-time champions qualified for the 11th time for the playoffs.