KL Rahul regrets taking unsuccessful review, fans in no mood to spare him
India opener KL Rahul, who took an unsuccessful Decision Review System (DRS) against Afghanistan in the final Super Four match of the ongoing Asia Cup, felt that he should not have taken the review after he was adjudged LBW by the field umpire in the 21st over. Rahul was on 60 when he tried to play a reverse sweep against Afghanistan spinner Rashid Khan. He, however, missed the ball completely - which was later confirmed by the DRS as India happened to lose a precious review.
"It's very tricky when you have just one review with you. Obviously, looking back at it, I felt like I shouldn't have taken the review but at that time, in the middle, I felt like maybe I was struck outside and I wanted to take that chance," said Rahul at the post-match press conference.
"Sometimes you can sit back here and review the review you took. We learn with it. The shot I played, the review that I took, I will have to go back and maybe if it happens again, I will be in a better position to know," he added.
Later on as the match progressed, India's stand-in captain Mahendra Singh Dhoni, who was playing his 200th ODI as skipper, got out LBW on 8 runs off Javed Ahmadi. However, the replay showed that the ball was missing the leg stump.
With the Indian team falling short of a review after the unsuccessful challenge by Rahul, Dhoni had to go back to the pavilion.
Dinesh Karthik got a rough call too after he was sent back for 44 runs after a wrong decision from the umpire.
As a result, Rahul was criticised for taking the poor review by fans on Twitter who were in no mood to spare the 26-year-old despite of him scoring a valuable 60 runs off 66 balls.
The match ended in a thrilling tie at the Dubai International Cricket Stadium.
Chasing a competitive 253, India got off to a flier from the new opening pair of Lokesh Rahul and Ambati Rayudu before a mini-collapse, coupled with a few run-outs and umpiring errors.
Needing 7 off the final over, Ravindra Jadeja struck a boundary on the second ball off leg-spinner Rashid Khan before taking two singles with last man Khaleel Ahmed in company.
With 1 needed off the final two balls, Jadeja pulled the fifth delivery -- a shorter one towards midwicket only to find Najibullah running in from deep to grab it with both hands and help Afghanistan bow out of the tournament with their head held high.
(With agency inputs)
