KL Rahul found himself on the wrong end of an umpire's decision on the first day of the opening Test against Australia in Perth. Rahul, the lone Indian batter who looked comfortable against the pace trio of Mitchell Starc, Josh Hazlewood and Pat Cummins, was handed a rather raw deal by the third umpire as he overturned the on-field call despite not seeing all the angles.
It was claimed on the broadcast that 80 cameras were covering the Test match on the ground but they didn't have the front-on angle when the replays were having a look at Rahul's dismissal. It was a shortish delivery from Mitchell Starc outside the off-stump, Rahul brought his bat down gently with a forward stride. The ball seemed to have missed the bat. However, the bat did hit the pad after the ball had passed.
The on-field umpire Richard Kettleborough gave it not out before the Australians decided to have a look on the DRS. The replays showed the angle from behind on the split screen and the other from the leg side. The third umpire asked for any other angle but was denied by the broadcasters from Fox. If there was a bat-pad situation, the front-on angle with all three of bat, ball and pad in the same frame would have helped.
It was inconclusive but the umpire decided to overturn the decision after seeing the spike on snicko. There is a gap between bat and ball when the spike is actually caught on snicko. As the umpire overturned the decision, Rahul walked off fuming and wasn't really happy with the call.
Former cricketers and experts including the likes of Irfan Pathan, Wasim Jaffer, Murali Karthik, Pommy Mbangwa and Harsha Bhogle came down at the third umpire echoing the sentiment that if it was inconclusive, he should have stuck with the on-field call. Matthew Hayden on the broadcast too reckoned that the spike was after the ball had passed the bat. Here are some of the reactions:
With the Indian top-order failing to negotiate the Australian pace attack, Rahul looked the most sorted of them all. His dismissal meant India were four down in the pre-lunch session only and will need an out-of-body effort from the likes of Rishabh Pant, Dhruv Jurel, Nitish Reddy and Washington Sundar to get out of this hole.
