KL Rahul was dismissed under controversial circumstances on Day 1 of the first Test between India and Australia at the Optus Stadium in Perth.
During the 23rd over of India’s innings, the third umpire went with an inconclusive angle from behind the stumps to declare Rahul out for 26 off 74 balls.
Facing Mitchell Starc, the right-handed opener got forward to defend a delivery that angled across him. The ball passed close to the bat and was caught by wicketkeeper Alex Carey. The on-field umpire gave it not out but Australia decided to take DRS, claiming a faint edge.
Upon review, TV umpire Richard Illingworth adjudged the batter to have nicked the ball following a spike on Ultra Edge even though the front-on replay was inconclusive.
Reflecting on the contentious dismissal, former Australia coach Darren Lehmann slammed Cricket Australia (CA) for not making hot spot available for the umpires.
“CA (Cricket Australia) should’ve actually paid for the hot spot then you’d have no problems there,” Lehmann said on commentary for ABC Sport.
“I just think we should have hot spot and I’m not worried about the cost. Broadcasters, both TV and radio, they’re paying the money for the broadcasting rights, so they’ve got the money there to do it. If we’re going to have big crowds, big nations playing, pay for it, work it out and get the right result.
“Think about this in a crunch fifth Test decider in Sydney, both teams playing for a World Test Championship spot for example and that happens and you haven’t got hot spot.
“If it’s a cost issue, come out and say it’s a cost issue, which I imagine it must be. I can understand the cash (answer) if the money they’re saving is going into grassroots cricket or developing the women’s game, I’m OK with that sort of stuff, but if they’re just saving money for the sake of saving money.”
While a lot of experts and former cricketers felt KL Rahul was hard done by the third umpire, former umpire Simon Taufel opined that Illingworth made the correct call despite not having the necessary angles required to make a conclusive decision on whether Rahul hit the ball.
“The umpire is looking for conclusive evidence and there were a few gremlins … where he didn’t get a few camera angles that he wanted. In my view the ball does graze the outside edge. With that side on shot there was a spike with the bat away from the pad,” Taufel said on Channel 7’s coverage.
