Indian captain Rohit Sharma made a big mistake by not opting for DRS on an lbw appeal from pacer Mohammed Siraj on Day 2 of the 1st India vs Bangladesh Test in Chennai.
Most things have gone India’s way on Day 2 of their 1st Test vs Bangladesh at the MA Chidambaram Stadium in Chennai on Friday. Team India fast bowlers have been firing on all cylinders and have Bangladesh on the mat with half their side dismissed for 40 runs inside 13 overs in reply to India’s first-innings score of 376.
But early in the Bangladesh innings, Mohammed Siraj and India could have dismissed opener Zakir Hasan early if not for skipper Rohit Sharma’s DRS blunder. Siraj had rapped Hasan on the pads and went up for a huge appeal in his second over.
But Rohit refused to opt for a DRS after umpire had refused to give the batter out. “Upar hai? Nahi? Nikal raha hai,” Rohit was heard on the stump mic, asking Rishabh Pant, “Is it going above? No? Drifting down leg.”
Rohit opted to stick to Pant’s advice, but as the replays soon showed, the Indian wicketkeeper’s judgement was wrong. The replays showed that umpire’s decision would have overturned to ‘OUT’ with three reds if Rohit opted for the DRS.
WATCH Rohit Sharma apologise to Mohammed Siraj for the DRS blunder here…
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The big mistake for the Indian captain didn’t cost India much as Akash Deep soon dismissed both Hasan and next batter Mominul Haque off successive deliveries. As soon as the replay of Hasan decision appeared on the big screen at the ground, Siraj looked frustrated and confused while Rohit had a wry smile on his face and waved his arms to apologise to Siraj.
Pant also followed his skipper by apologizing to the India bowler. The confusion was summed up by former India head coach Ravi Shastri on air. “Don’t show Siraj the replay. He won’t be a happy chappy that’s for sure,” Shastri said.
“If you see from where Siraj has delivered, it’s very close to the stumps. So I think it’s at least a 50-50 call. He gets close to the stumps at the time of delivery so the chances of leg before are much more when he bowls from angle as compared to center of the crease or wide of the crease. You really need to get the ball to swing in from the off stump,” he added.
Siraj had to bide his time but finally got his first wicket immediately after lunch with Bangladesh skipper dismissed for 20, caught by Virat Kohli for 11.