Indian skipper Virat Kohli was left fuming after his DRS appeal during the third and final T20 International against Australia at the Sydney Cricket Ground (SCG) was declared “null and void” by the third umpire.
This all happened in the 11th over of the second innings when a delivery from T Natarajan struck Matthew Wade on the pads, and India’s half-hearted appeal for LBW was turned down by the on-field umpire.
Captain Kohli asked for the DRS, and the third umpire went through with the process for a while before stopping to declare it “null and void” as the replay of the delivery bowled by Natarajan was already shown on the big screen before India took the review.
India wanted to review this
The third umpire said no because replays had already been shown on the big screen
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Wade was preparing to take strike when Indian wicket-keeper KL Rahul informed him that a review had been taken.
“They referred it off the big screen,” Wade was heard saying to the square-leg umpire on the stump mic.
After the third umpire’s decision, fans and experts shared their two views on the incident.
The referral against Wade raises an interesting question. If the big screen shows the replay within the time allotted for the referral, can you disallow the referral? In this case we need to see the timer but the question is valid
— Harsha Bhogle (@bhogleharsha) December 8, 2020
Right decision made. Can’t have the review after the replays are on the big screen. But was it up earlier than it should have been??? Or was it played only after 15 seconds had lapsed?? #Wade #Natarajan #AusvInd
— Aakash Chopra (@cricketaakash) December 8, 2020
Former Australian cricketer Mark Taylor also seemed impressed with the umpires for knocking back Kohli’s request.
“The umpire has got it dead right, in the end, to knock back the review,” he told Wide World of Sports.
Talking about the result of the match, Kohli-led India lost the third encounter by 12 runs, but they sealed the three-match series after having won the first two games in Canberra and Sydney. India won the first T20I by 11 runs last Friday and crushed the Aussies in the second game by six wickets on Sunday.
