All through the ongoing India West-Indies series, fans have been treated to some quality stump-mic chatter from the India players. From captain Rohit Sharma sending off Yuzvendra Chahal to run and field properly, to ex-captain Virat Kohli getting frustrated from taking catches in the slip- it’s fair to say that in the past few days, viewers have got plenty of chances to hear the candid side of their favorite India superstars.
The ongoing first T20I match between the two teams saw a banter of similarly wholesome nature between Rohit and Virat. At the 8th over of the innings, debutant leg-spinner Ravi Bishnoi managed to outfox Roston Chase with a googly sliding down the leg side.
Ravi Bishnoi bowls an all-in-one googly
There were a lot of things to process with that single delivery: for starters, the on-field umpires were not sure if it was a wide. Bishnoi and some of the Indian fielders, meanwhile, had a slight inkling that Chase had been trapped LBW. Others weren’t too sure if the ball had hit the bat or the pad. And amidst all this, wicket-keeper Rishabh Pant seemed convinced for a catch appeal! Talk about an absolute mixed bag!
Rohit did eventually decide to take the review and check for caught-behind, and it was Virat Kohli’s conviction that seemed to convince him. ‘Do awaaz aayi hai, bat aur pad dono pe laga hai’, a confident sounding Virat was heard telling his skipper. (T- There were two sounds, the ball has hit bat and pad both).
As it turned out, the ball had grazed past Chase’s pad- not bat- rendering the caught-behind claim moot. A short-while later, the replays showed Chase had his foot well inside the crease, putting an end to the stumping conundrum. As an added bonus, the umpires were also convinced to revoke their decision of calling the delivery a wide.
India don’t lose review despite wrong call
But what’s interesting to note is that India didn’t lose their review despite the unsuccessful caught-behind challenge. Apparently, the square-leg umpire had signalled for the stumping check before Rohit could signal for the catch-appeal, so his claim was appended to the original appeal.
There was a fair bit of ambiguity about the decision and involved Rohit having a chat with umpire Jayaraman Madanagopal to get an exact clarification about the process. But it was fun to see the India boys joking and laughing about the contentious delivery. Here’s the video of the incident:
https://twitter.com/im_maqbool/status/1493954869409247236?t=3ZdpJmrTRfLaawWCyOzBMQ&s=19
