PTI

Antigua, Jun 6: It was a dramatic sequence of events which lead to field umpires' declaring Mahendra Singh Dhoni 'out', not on the ground but inside their room on the fourth evening of the first cricket Test here on Monday.

Perhaps it was only one incident of its kind when a batsman was declared out not on the field but beyond it following 15 minutes of utter confusion.

"I came to know of the dismissal once I was in the dressing room," said Dhoni.

It could also have landed West Indian captain Brian Lara in trouble before the umpires, match referee and the two captains decided to bury the issue.

As the sequence of incidents went, having hit three straight sixes off left-arm spinner Dave Mohammad's 30th over, Dhoni was apparently caught at the midwicket fence by Darren Ganga in the 151st and final over of the innings, before the catch became a matter of dispute lasting 15 minutes.

Standing umpire Asad Rauf, unsure if the fielder had stepped on to the cardboard advertising covering the ropes, called for the third umpire Billy Doctrove to make a call.

Doctrove was 'stumped' to find the television cameras had not captured the action in entirety. They had the fielder catching the ball but it did not cover his legs.

Doctrove abdicated his responsibility at this stage and refused to make a calling. With the third umpire forfeiting his role, it became a free for all 15 minutes in the middle.