“We have to remember that he was given out on field”, Sunil Gavaskar backs the third umpire’s call to rule Virat Kohli LBW in the second test against Australia

Australia had a chance to take the lead in the first innings of the second Test against India on Saturday in New Delhi after Nathan Lyon took two fast wickets by removing Cheteshawr Pujara and Shreyas Iyer. 

But Ravindra Jadeja and Virat Kohli, the former captain of India, had other ideas. They tried to save India by making a 59-run stand to no avail. Australia’s hero from the Nagpur match, Todd Murphy, removed Jadeja in the afternoon session, and then a well-set Kohli was removed by rookie Matthew Kuhnemann. 

Nevertheless, the dismissal of the ex-Indian captain was met with widespread backlash from cricket fans and veterans on social media.

When the sound of the ball hitting Kohli’s pads, the Kotla crowd became silent. The only thing that could be heard inside the ancient walls of the arena was the loud plea from the Australian squad. After Australia made their appeal, the on-field umpire Nitin Menon raised his fingers. 

The Indian batsman asked for a review right away. While the ball hit both the front pad and the bat virtually simultaneously, the third umpire ruled in favor of Menon. According to the Hawkeye, the ball would “cut the leg stumps.”

A video of an incensed Kohli storming back to the pavilion after the contentious decision went viral.

Although most umpires would have agreed with the batter, former Australian cricketer Mark Waugh defended umpire Menon for his “brave decision.”

“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,” he said during commentary.

Sunil Gavaskar, a former captain of India’s cricket team and a member of the panel, said that the third umpire had to be very certain to overrule the judgment of the on-field umpire since the soft signal was out.

“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,” he said.

India was all out for 262 runs, one run short of Australia’s first-innings total.