Virat Kohli looked to be in complete control against the Australian spinners on Day 2 of the ongoing second Test in Delhi. Responding to the Australian first innings total of 263, Indian batting found themselves in trouble on a tricky Kotla pitch.
Resuming on day 2 at 21/0, Indian batters were troubled by Australian spinner Nathan Lyon who picked the first four wickets to fell in KL Rahul (17), Rohit Sharma (32), Cheteshwar Pujara (0) and Shreyas Iyer (4).
Then Virat Kohli (44) and Ravindra Jadeja (26) added a valuable 59-run partnership for the fifth wicket, taking India from 66/4 to 125/5 when Jadeja was out LBW to Todd Murphy.
Virat continued on superbly negating the spin that Murphy, Lyon, and Kuhnemann were getting and played confidently. However, his innings were cut short on 44 runs after debutant Matthew Kuhnemann got one ball to straighten as Kohli played a front-foot defensive shot.
Vikram Rathour And Other Coaching Staff Of Indian Team Furious After Virat Kohli’s Dismissal
The ball hit the pad and on-field umpire Nitin Menon gave him out instantly Kohli reviewed immediately- as he thought he had got some bat on it and perhaps the ball was going down the leg side.
Third umpire Richard Illingworth took a long time to decide whether it was pad first or bat. The crucial point to be considered is the fact that he had to have conclusive evidence to overturn the on-field umpire’s decision, which he clearly didn’t have. It appeared that the ball hit the inside edge of Kohli’s bat and his front pad at the same time.
Ball tracking showed the ball would have just clipped the leg stump so it was the umpire’s call and Illingworth asked Menon to stay with his decision of out.
Kohli was furious as he walked off the field and not only he, but the Indian coaching staff saw the replays and were aghast as well and reacted in frustration.
Here are the video:
— cricket fan (@cricketfanvideo) February 18, 2023
— cricket fan (@cricketfanvideo) February 18, 2023
The experts also agreed that it was a debatable call and perhaps should have gone in the batter’s favour. Mark Waugh said, “Nine out of 10 times you would give that not out.”
Also Read: IND vs AUS: “Very Interesting To See Rohit Sharma’s Reaction As Well” – Dinesh Karthik On KL Rahul’s Six Against Nathan Lyon