‘It was Brave Call..’: Mark Waugh, Sunil Gavaskar Offer Verdict on Virat Kohli’s Controversial Dismissal
Australian spin wizard Nathan Lyon began Day 2 of the second Test between India and Australia on fire as he ripped apart India’s top order.
Lyon dismissed the likes of KL Rahul, Rohit Sharma, Cheteshwar Pujara and Shreyas Iyer to reduce the hosts to 66/4 in just 25 overs as India looked to chase Australia’s first-inning total of 263 runs.
Virat Kohli and Ravindra Jadeja stitched together a crucial 59-run stand to foil Australia’s plans of taking a big lead. As the Indian pair set about to bring the hosts back into the contest, Todd Murphy got the better of Jadeja, before Kohli was dismissed in a controversial fashion.
Fans on social media appeared irked, much like the former Indian skipper himself, who later fumed at the dismissal as he made his way back to the Indian dressing room.
Matthew Kuhnemann the debutant silenced the entire Kotla as he appealed after the ball hit Kohli’s pads. Australian players let out a collective cheer while a defiant Kohli asked for a DRS review straightaway after umpire Nitin Menon raised his finger.
However, what followed suit left Kohli frustrated as the third umpire also agreed with Menon’s call as the ball appeared to hit the front pad and the ball almost simultaneously. From the replays, it was confirmed that the ball would go on to clip the leg stump.
A dismayed Kohli made his way back to the dressing room and former Australian cricketer Mark Waugh as well as Sunil Gavaskar who were part of the commentary panel at the time agreed with Menon’s controversial call.
Waugh lauded Menon’s decision as a ‘brave call’ since many umpires would have given the batsman a benefit of the doubt.
“It was a brave decision from the umpire against Kohli. Nine out of 10 times you would give that not out. There was too much doubt. If you want to err, you would err on the batter’s side,” said Waugh.
Gavaskar meanwhile stated that since the soft signal was given out, the third umpire needed to be sure before opting to overturn the on-field decision from Menon.
“I don’t think the problem was whether the ball will hit the stumps or not. It was whether he (Kohli) hit it. It was close. We have to remember that he was given out on field. Now the third umpire needed to be absolutely sure that Kohli hit it first for the decision to be overturned,” added the former India opener turned commentator.
While Rohit Sharma’s side struggled to tackle the threat of Lyon as he picked up a fifer, Axar Patel played a sublime 74-run knock to help India take a solitary run lead before they folded.
In return, Australia reached 61/1 at stumps on Day 2.
