KL Rahul’s wicket kicked up a storm of controversy in the opening day of the first Test match of the Border Gavaskar Trophy but Australia pacer Mitchell Starc remarked that he thought it was a ‘regulation’ wicket. (AP)
KL Rahul’s wicket kicked up a storm of controversy in the opening day of the first Test match of the Border Gavaskar Trophy but Australia pacer Mitchell Starc remarked that he thought it was a ‘regulation’ wicket.
“It got overturned obviously, but I thought it was regulation, the sound it made, the timing of it, I thought it was just a regulation wicket,” Starc said at the press conference after the day’s play.
Rahul (26), who anchored India’s innings was controversially given out after a review of caught behind off the bowling of Starc on the stroke of lunch on Day 1 in Perth.
While the on-field umpire didn’t give it out originally, it was overturned after a spike appeared on snicko, even though Rahul felt that it was from his bat hitting his pad. The Indian opener was in absolute disbelief and had a chat with the on-field umpires before walking back to the hut.
Former India head coach Ravi Shastri, who was commentating for Fox Cricket, said there was not enough evidence for the third umpire to overturn the on-field official’s not out decision.
“My initial reaction was, was there enough evidence there for the third umpire to overrule what was given. It was not out on the field of play. Did I see enough there for me to be convinced? I didn’t see enough, to be honest,” he said.
Former Australia batter Michael Hussey admitted on air that the third umpire’s decision was a controversial one.
“That’s controversial – there was a spike on the Snicko, but was the spike coming from the ball hitting the bat, or was it the bat hitting his pad?” Hussey asked while commentating for the same channel.
“You can see the bat just clipping the pad, so you’ve just got to get the timing right…there’s got to be some doubt there in my mind.”
