Perth. Indian opener KL Rahul was controversially dismissed during the first BorderGavaskar Trophy Test against Australia at the Perth Stadium.
Rahul was trying to defend the ball of Mitchell Starc in the 23rd over. After this the onfield umpire gave him not out. But Australia took DRS as they felt the ball had taken the edge of the bat to the wicketkeeper.
On review, third umpire Richard Illingworth observed a spike on the ultraedge and deemed that the edge of Rahul's bat had hit the ball. However, it also showed that the bat could hit the pad. Illingworth asked for a fronton angle, but was not given it. He was forced to take a decision based on the incomplete angle he received from behind.
When the “out” decision appeared on the screen, Rahul was shocked and shook his head as he walked towards the dressing room. He scored 26 runs on 74 balls in the first innings. Even commentators were surprised at this decision.
“I didn't think the third umpire had enough evidence to overturn the onfield umpire's decision,” former India coach Ravi Shastri said on Fox Sports.
Former Australian bowler Kerry O'Keefe also agreed. He said, “Rahul was unlucky. The bat might have hit the pad. Had there been hot spot technology, it would have been clear. Rahul's reaction showed that he was disappointed.”
Former Australian opener Matthew Hayden said on Channel 7, “The bat and pad were not together when the ball passed. The sound Snicko picked up was probably the batpad hitting the ball, not the edge of the ball.”
But former umpire Simon Toffel said, “The third umpire tried to reach a conclusion, but he didn't get all the camera angles. I think the ball touched the outside edge of the bat.”
He also said that “the sideon shot showed that the bat was away from the pad and the first sound on the RTS was of the ball hitting the bat. If the footage was shown further, perhaps the second sound (of batpad) would also be clearly visible.” It would have happened.”
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Image Credit: KhasKhabar.