2nd Test, Day 2: Virat Kohli’s ‘unlucky’ lbw dismissal in first innings sparks debate

Joshna Sethi February 18, 2023

1 minute read

New Delhi, Feb 18: In India’s ongoing second Border-Gavaskar Trophy Test against Australia at the Arun Jaitley Stadium in New Delhi, talismanic batter Virat Kohli endured an unlucky lbw dismissal which sparked a lengthy debate on social media.

In the second session of Day Two’s play, Kohli was trapped lbw by debutant left-arm spinner Matthew Kuhnemann on the third ball of the 50th over. When Kohli took a review, the UltraEdge showed there was a huge spike when the ball was between bat and pad.

After seeing multiple replays to and fro, TV umpire Richard Illingworth concluded that the ball hit the pad first and Kohli had to return to the pavilion courtesy of the umpire’s call, falling six runs short of his fifty at his home ground and stared towards on-field umpire Nitin Menon too while on his walk towards the dressing room, with the vociferous crowd falling silent.

Kohli was also spotted very unhappy on watching his wicket’s replay from the dressing room. Batting coach Vikram Rathour and head coach Rahul Dravid also looked very unhappy with the on-field umpire’s decision.

As per law 36.2.2 of the MCC Laws of Cricket, it says “In assessing point 36.1.3, if the ball makes contact with the striker’s person and bat simultaneously, this shall be considered as the ball having first touched the bat.”

Former Indian cricketers Wasim Jaffer and Abhinav Mukund opined that Kohli was unlucky to be given out lbw for 44. “That wasn’t out to me. Too much doubt in there,” tweeted Jaffer.

“Didn’t Virat get out like this against SL at home last year? Both times I felt it was not out. Firstly it hit the bat, let’s not even get into how unlucky he is with the umpire’s call. Was shaping up nicely. India in a bit of trouble,” commented Mukund.

Coming to the match, India reached 179/7 in 62 overs at tea, trailing Australia by 84 runs. Ravichandran Ashwin and Axar Patel are unbeaten on 11 and 28 respectively, with their stand currently at 40 off 67 balls.