The recent clash between Mumbai Indians (MI) vs Delhi Capitals (DC) recently sparked controversy after the dismissal of Abishek Porel sparked a controversy, find out more below about the alleged fixing claims
The controversy erupted after Abishek Porel was given out in a crucial moment during the high-stakes match at the Wankhede Stadium.
Why are Mumbai Indians (MI) accused of fixing matches in the IPL and do they really buy umpires or not
Another disgraceful decision in #MIvsDC – Abishek Porel was clearly safe, yet given out.
How long will the @IPL& @BCCI let Mumbai Indians benefit from these blunders?
Are the Ambanis running a cricket league or a reality show rigged with money power? pic.twitter.com/sbKLXZTO34— Sincere Dibya (@TheSincereDude) May 21, 2025
The dismissal came as DC were chasing 181 in a do-or-die match, with emotions high from both sides.
Abishek Porel dismissal sparks controversy
Earlier in the match, DC found themselves in trouble after losing Faf du Plessis and KL Rahul early on in the game. Abishek Porel, who is one of their in-form batters, seemingly walked in under pressure and tried to stabilize the innings. However, MI’s Ryan Rickelton stumped out Porel following a decent delivery by Will Jacks. The incident sparked a major controversy on the field as well as across social media.
Today i understand a fixer team can naver improve
Fixer Mumbai
Umpire Indians
Rambani ji well played #MIvsDC pic.twitter.com/x8mTdSFr7K— CRICKET EXPERT (@GameingCyb72821) May 21, 2025
At an initial angle, it looked like Porel had some part of his foot on the ground behind the crease when the bails were dislodged. As a result, this sparked some major outrage among the fans, as some even accused MI of playing dirty. However, upon further review from the side-angle replay, Porel’s foot was obviously in the air when the stumping happened. The third umpire had made the right decision and the noise around MI “cheating” quickly faded as viewers saw the review.
While the decision was the correct one, it don’t stop social media users from claiming that Mumbai Indians had once again fixed the match and bought off the years. The trend Umpire Indians trended on Twitter/X, pointing towards a string of dubious decisions during the encounter including claiming that Vipraj Nigam’s six had been given as a four and Mitchell Santner’s noball hadn’t been called by the umpire.
Over the years, memes claiming MI pay off umpires to give decisions in the team’s favour have gone viral on social media platforms with some even trolling the team by claiming it buys umpires during the auction.
Accusations of the IPL favouring MI went viral during the team’s clash against Gujarat earlier in IPL 2025 when during the 14th over, the covers were on because of heavy rain and GT were ahead of MI as per DLS method. However, MI made a return and the game was again halted for a while after the 18th over of the match, which is when MI were ahead of GT.
The umpires went ahead with just one over and asked GT to score 15. Despite the defeat for MI, the side landed themselves in hot waters as a video has emerged where a MI staff was captured using a mobile phone in the dugout despite phones being prohibited on the ground.
This incident along with a bevy of similar calls by umpires in Mumbai’s favour over the years have lead fans to believe that the league is already fixed to ensure MI keeps winning. While the claims have become fodder for memes, no such official investigation has ever proven that the side indeed fixes matches or pays money to the match officials.
Impact of Porel’s dismissal on the game
Umpire Indians 🤡#MIvsDC pic.twitter.com/fYL7qguuxB
— Vishal Rawat (@rawat_official_) May 21, 2025
Abishek Porel’s dismissal proved to be a crucial wicket as it reduced Delhi to 27 for 3 handing MI total control over the match. Following his exit, Vipraj Nigam tried to step up with some aggressive strokes, but Mitchell Santner dismissed him eventually. Tristan Stubbs then followed in with a mere two runs before getting dismissed.
MI had posted 181 runs earlier in the game thanks to Suryakumar Yadav’s 73. Meanwhile, for DC, the stakes were even higher, as a win would help them stay alive, while a lose meant heading home.
1. It was a clear six by Vipraj but the umpire didn't even bother to check and gave it a four.
2. Santer bowled a side no ball in which Vipraj got out.
3. Abhishek Porel was clearly not out
Umpire Indians at their best!!
Congrats MI for 6th title. #MIvsDC #DCvsMI pic.twitter.com/lw7983mzcE
— 🧢1⃣0⃣ (@CapXSid) May 21, 2025