The DRS was once again in the spotlight on the third day in Ranchi, after TV umpire Nigel Llong upheld the not-out decision for an lbw appeal against Cheteshwar Pujara
ESPNcricinfo staff18-Mar-20170:27
Manjrekar: Smith did not mock Kohli
DRS watch
Was it pad first, or bat first? Did the TV umpire Nigel Llong notice the mini-spike on Ultra Edge? If he did, why didn’t he say anything on air during the review? Was it conclusive enough to overturn the umpire’s on-field decision of not out, or not?While such questions were hotly debated on social media after an lbw appeal – and subsequent review – from Steve O’Keefe against Cheteshwar Pujara, Llong himself had said from the cooler environment of the TV umpire’s box that he thought it “definitely looked like bat first”.Cricket Australia, though, were on hand with the screenshot to set off a thousand conversations.
Brett Lee asking on commentary if there was some pad before bat there.
Thoughts? #INDvAUS pic.twitter.com/tmM9Ys2sUN
— cricket.com.au (@CricketAus) March 18, 2017
Off the very next ball – from Nathan Lyon – umpire Ian Gould did his bit to stoke the fire, by not raising his finger to what looked like a bat-pad catch off M Vijay. Australia were all out of reviews, though.
And a big appeal for a catch in close given not out and the Aussies are all out of reviews #INDvAUS pic.twitter.com/djhJ6ejIIQ
— cricket.com.au (@CricketAus) March 18, 2017
Now, if only there existed conclusive technology that could help end the debate.Aggression watch
Virat Kohli had spent all of the second day off the field nursing a shoulder injury, but on the third morning he was seen in his whites, padded up and ready to bat at No. 4. When Australia reviewed that lbw decision, the cameras panned on Kohli, who applauded Pujara’s survival. Or was it Australia’s unsuccessful review he was taking joy in? As India scored at a fluent pace, captain and cheerleader Kohli was often seen clapping from the dressing room.Later on, when Kohli was at the crease, Glenn Maxwell chased down a Pujara flick near the midwicket boundary, and clutched his shoulder and laughed after he got up. The gesture was interpreted by some to be a mockery of Kohli’s injury. Kohli was caught by Steven Smith at slip the very next ball, and shortly afterwards there was flare up on social media because a clip had appeared that showed Smith also clutching at his shoulder – again thought to be aimed at Kohli – while celebrating the catch. Later, more complete images proved that it was Peter Handscomb’s hand on Smith’s shoulder, and the accusations of mockery were unfounded.Pitch watch
Australia’s spin consultant Sridharan Sriram, whose back-room advice had played an important role in sinking India in Pune, and O’Keefe spent part of the lunch break pitch gazing. Just like they did in Pune. They stood by the stumps, surveying the surface, as Australia sought to disrupt India’s run-making. This time around, he inflicted little damage after the lunchtime survey, as he finished with post-lunch figures of 20-6-50-0.For the second day running, Cummins and Hazlewood troubled India’s batsmen the most, getting a few deliveries to rise steeply. The strategy in the afternoon was to dry up the runs, though, with O’Keefe bowling over the wicket, hitting the rough outside Pujara’s leg stump. Pujara padded up to what seemed like a few million balls on that line.Earlier in the day, lawn mowers had been used to remove any rogue blades of grass that may have grown on the pitch overnight. None had dared. While quite a few balls zipped and turned, the bounce remained fairly even, and playing shots wasn’t hard.
