Team India has escaped the formal sanction for an on-field outrage after a DRS decision went against them during the third and final Test against South Africa in Cape Town.
The incident took place in the 21st over of South Africa’s second innings when Ravichandran Ashwin flighted one delivery which first dipped and then straightened to beat Dean Elgar’s bat. Umpire Marais Erasmus straightaway ruled the batsman LBW out, but the South African skipper appealed for DRS.
Once Elgar saw on the big screen that he was beaten, he started shuffling back only to his delight to find that the ball was going over the stumps.
It neither amused the Indians nor the umpire, who suggested: “That’s impossible”.
Ashwin was heard saying: “You should find better ways to win, SuperSport”, while his teammate KL Rahul lashed out: “Whole country playing against eleven guys.”
Captain Virat Kohli further added: “Focus on your team as well when they shine the ball… not just the opposition! Trying to catch people all the time. Certainly conducting a fair game here, DRS.”
https://twitter.com/addicric/status/1481655952869040130
Meanwhile, Match referee Andy Pycroft has told the Indian team management that their players’ behaviour in Cape Town was unacceptable. They could face severe punishment if such actions are repeated on the field. Therefore, there was no reprimand or any charge levied on the team this time.
For the unversed, SuperSport uses technology from Hawk-Eye Innovations, the same providers who work with the ICC and the BCCI, among others.
After facing a seven-wicket defeat in Cape Town that saw the Proteas sealing the three-match series 2-1, Kohli was defiant in his post-match press conference.
“We understood what happened on the field, and people on the outside don’t know exact details of what goes on in the field, so for me to try and justify what we did on the field and say we got carried away is wrong,” Kohli said.
“If we had gotten charged up and picked up three wickets there, that would have probably been the moment that changed the game.
“The reality of the situation is that we did not apply enough pressure on them for longer periods of time throughout the course of the Test match, and hence we lost the game.
“That one moment seems very nice and very exciting to make a controversy out of, which honestly I’m not interested in making a controversy of it at all.
“It was just a moment that passed, and we moved on from it, and just kept focusing on the game and trying to pick up wickets.”
