The third umpire was in the spotlight during the second ODI between India and England being played in Pune. India was asked to bat first by England captain Jos Buttler who won the toss.
India put up an impressive 336/6 after KL Rahul’s century and half-centuries from Virat Kohli and Rishabh Pant. England got off to an excellent start with Jonny Bairstow and Jason Roy hitting half-centuries and adding 110 for the first wicket in near 17 overs.
India got their first wicket thanks to a brilliant Rohit Sharma fielding effort as Jason Roy was run out for 55 runs. Ben Stokes came out at no.3 and might have been the second wicket to fall if the third umpire hadn’t given a debatable decision.
On the 5th ball of the 26th over bowled by Bhuvneshwar Kumar, Ben Stokes hit the ball towards mid-on and was coasting back for the second seeing the fielder was Kuldeep Yadav. However, Kuldeep’s throw proved to be an excellent one, as it hit the stumps directly.
The decision was referred to the third umpire, and the replays showed that the bail was up before the bat is in, but the zing doesn't light up for another couple of frames. By then, the bat crossed into the crease safely.
Though there were opinions of both ways, the third umpire decided to rule it not out much to the chagrin of the Indian team and also fans and cricket pundits on social media.
Yuvraj Singh and Michael Vaughan were both left shocked at the decision which gave Ben Stokes a life, saying it should have been ruled out.
“That was out !!! No part of bat was touching over the line . It was just showing that it was over ! Just my opinion!!,” Yuvraj tweeted.
“Wow ... I would have given that Out ...,” Vaughan posted on Twitter.
Here is the video of the split screen:
