'Unlucky Virat Kohli was not out': India Fans Slam Poor Umpiring in 2nd IND vs AUS Test, see Reactions

Virat Kohli was batting well on 44 before a Matthew Kuhnemann delivery struck him on the pads. The umpire raised his figer after which Kohli took a review. There was not a clear evidence to see whether the ball had hit the pads first but Kohli was still given out.

Source: Twitter

Virat Kohli played well for his 44 runs in the first innings of the 2nd Test going on at Arun Jaitely stadium in Delhi on Friday, February 18. His innings came to an end with a controversial decision going against him. In the 50th over of the innings, bowled by spinner Matthew Kuhnemann, Kohli played a straighter one on front foot. The ball dipped in after pitching and appeared to be hitting Kohli's pads first. There were two sounds though. But umpire Michael Gough believed Kohli was out as the ball would have crashed into the stumps. The India batter felt otherwise and instantly took the review. The UltraEdge clearly showed that the ball hit the bat and pad both.

However, it was not very clear whether the ball had hit the bat first or the pad. If in such a scenario, the ball has hit the bat first, then it cannot be given out leg before wicket. Despite there being no clear evidence, third umpire Richard Illingworth made up his mind and said, on air, that ball appeared to be hitting pad first. He quickled asked the TV director to show the ball tracker. There were 2 reds and umpire's call on ball hitting the stumps. Kohli had to go but fans felt that he was hard done by the umpires over there. On air, Ravi Shastri too felt the same. 

Check out Team India fans' reaction to the controversial Kohli dismissal on Saturday afternoon:

Umpires never support Virat kohli like Mumbai Indians _ pic.twitter.com/SOTDQFhkM5

— Vishal. (@SportyVishaI) February 18, 2023

Virat Kohli is unlucky here. pic.twitter.com/cK3vSOKYa0 — CricketMAN2 (@ImTanujSingh) February 18, 2023

It's bat first, shit umpiring by the third umpire again. how unlucky can a man be ??? Virat Kohli goes for well made 44 runs.#INDvAUS pic.twitter.com/Ydh5VRCBBQ — Akshat (@AkshatOM10) February 18, 2023

While sympathising with Kohli, it is also important to look at third umpire's perspective. The umpiring thumb rule is that you cannot reverse the on-field decision untill unless you get conclusive evidence by looking at the replays. There was none when Illingwirth had a hard look at the dismissal and had to stick to the on-field decision. That is the grey area in cricket and cricket umpiring. This is something that as a cricket fan and player, one has to accept and move on. 

Earlier, Nathan Lyon struck four times in the lunch session on Day 2 to push India on back foot before Ravindra Jadeja and Virat Kohli got together to steady the sinking ship for a while.