Published 18:42 IST, January 9th 2021
DRS blunder leaves fans in utter disbelief on Day 3 of SCG Test against Australia
The passionate cricket fans were once again annoyed after another instance of the DRS blunder in the ongoing third Test match at the Sydney Cricket Ground
The Decision Review System (DRS) has given some tough time to the participating teams as well as the passionate cricket fans and viewers in the ongoing Test series against Australia. While it was all about the umpire's call in the previous Test match at the MCG, it was all about the ball making an impact on the fourth stump line in the ongoing third Test at the Sydney Cricket Ground.
'There's clearly 4 stumps'
The incident happened in the 12th over of Australia's second innings that was bowled by Ravichandran Ashwin and Steve Smith was on strike. It was the veteran off-spinner's second over of the innings and in one of those deliveries, the number three batsman was struck on the pads and there was a muted appeal for leg before as the ball was clearly moving towards the leg-side.
Nonetheless, the Tamil Nadu all-rounder was somehow convinced that he had got Steven Smith's number and urged the stand-in-captain Ajinkya Rahane to get it reviewed and he obliged. Replays showed that the ball was tossed up on leg stump and the New South Wales batsman, was beaten by the loop in his attempt to play a sweep shot. To the naked eye, it looked that the ball was completely going a long way down the leg side but the Hawk-Eye had something else to show.
Even though the Hawk-Eye took a long time to reach a conclusion, it made a mess of everything as the overlay of the stumps by Hawk-Eye did not line up with the actual stumps and the pitch-map showed the ball was hitting what was a virtual fourth-stump which was some distance away from the actual leg stump.
Once it came to the netizens' notice, they did not shy away from pointing out the loopholes in DRS. Here are some of the reactions.
Australia dominate the proceedings on Day 3
Coming back to the on-field action, India were bundled out for 244 in reply to Australia's first innings total of 338 as the visitors had a first-innings lead of 94 runs. Opener Shubman Gill & number three batsman Cheteshwar Pujara scored a 50 each while none of the others from the Indian batting line-up could make much of an impact.
The Aussies in their second innings are 103/2 with two of their famed top-order batsmen Steve Smith (29*) and Marnus Labuschagne (47*) going strong. The hosts now have a lead of 197 runs after the end of play on Day 3.
The visitors will now be hoping to restrict Australia to a manageable total on Day 4 as the SCG Test reaches its business end.
Updated 18:42 IST, January 9th 2021