Virat Kohli and the Decision Review System (DRS) seem to be having an unhappy marriage. If the Indian skipper, who has displayed a rather impulsive streak in reviewing umpiring decisions, had thought that he finally had a chance on Monday to set it right. However, even that proved elusive.
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Kohli was given out leg-before off a Josh Hazlewood delivery which skid through and thudded on to the pad. Kohli thought he had hit the ball before it hit his pad. The decision was reviewed but even umpteen replays couldn't provide conclusive evidence to overturn the on-field call.
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“We all were bit surprised by the call,” said India's batting coach Sanjay Bangar. “Was there a conclusive evidence to make that call or there wasn’t a conclusive evidence that is something the match referee will look into and have a chat about."
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The BCCI's official Twitter account too didn’t want the incident to be left behind.
“OUT or NOT OUT ? Richard Kettleborough thought it was out. What do you think ? #Virat @Paytm #INDvAUS,” it tweeted.
More importantly, the dismissal ensured that Kohli has totalled only 40 runs in four innings in the series. His reaction after being dismissed was more than indicative of this.
“He wanted to succeed very badly in this innings,” said Bangar. “Virat was really pumped up and he is a big match player. But it was a normal reaction of a batsman in the dressing room when he gets out cheaply.”
When asked whether all the travails with the DRS shaken the Indians' confidence in the technology, Bangar said: “I don’t think it has gone to that extent.
“We are new to DRS and the rules have been tweaked a bit. It is very much the umpire’s call which becomes really really crucial. We haven’t really sat down and evaluated about it. We are learning with as many games we are playing with DRS.”
Hazlewood, on his part felt that the use of HotSpot would help clear such issues.
“It’s a massive series, and you want to have all the technology that you can,” the 26-year-old said. “I think HotSpot works really well. It can be the difference between not out and out.”
“Initially, I just heard a bit of wood, so I pulled out of the appeal. But I saw the guys behind and square of the wicket were pretty confident and it was given out. After looking at the reviews, you could see the ball was just touching the pad before the bat. So one had to stick with the on-field call.”
Bangar though said that the decision to use HotSpot was best left to the administrators.
“It's for them to decide as to why they opted to use a technology and why one part of it is not used,” he said. “I think it is for the ICC, BCCI and other administrators to decide. I have neither the authority nor the knowledge to answer that.”
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