BGT 2024 | Twitter reacts as KL Rahul vents his frustration at umpire following controversial dismissal

ByDebayan Sinha, SportsCafe Editor

Last Friday at 9:58 AM

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Being unlucky can prove costly, especially when a bad decision ends a good and powerful innings. Such was the case with KL Rahul on the first day of the India-Australia Test match at Perth, where his promising knock came to an abrupt end due to a controversial decision by the third umpire.

‌After winning the toss and opting to bat first, India's batting struggled. Yashasvi Jaiswal fell victim to Mitchell Starc’s brilliance in the third over, as the team struggled with the pace and bounce of the Perth pitch. Despite a fiery spell from the Starc-Hazlewood duo, skipper Pat Cummins took the new ball and bowled a clean eighth over, while the Indian batters seemed to fall prey to the challenging conditions. Devdutt Padikkal departed for a duck on 23 balls, leaving India at 18/2 after 12 overs. However, the crowd erupted when Virat Kohli joined Rahul, only for Kohli to be dismissed cheaply for five runs off 12 deliveries. With Rishabh Pant and Rahul at the crease, the score stood at 47/3 after 22 overs. Starc once again proved his class in the 23rd over, but it was Rahul’s controversial dismissal, following a disputed third umpire call, that left the Indian side deflated.

On the second ball of the 23rd over, Mitchell Starc delivered a good-length ball pitching on middle and off, shaping away and angling across KL Rahul. The Karnataka batter hung his bat close to the ball, aiming to defend, but with his front foot coming forward, the delivery went straight past to wicketkeeper Alex Carey. The Australians erupted in a loud appeal, prompting skipper Pat Cummins to review after the on-field umpire Richard Kettleborough gave it not out.

The review brought UltraEdge into play, and a spike appeared as the ball passed the outside edge, sparking celebrations in the Australian camp. However, Rahul looked visibly upset, gesturing to the umpire and insisting the ball had not touched his bat. Despite his protests, third umpire Richard Illingworth overturned the decision, deeming Rahul out, leaving the batter visibly frustrated as he walked back to the pavilion. Later replays showed that the ball had touched Rahul’s pad first, causing the spike, which was what Rahul had been trying to explain. Twitter erupted with discussions about the controversial dismissal, with fans sharing their thoughts on the unfortunate call.

Rahul did not like the decision

— Pandit Pranoob (@pranoob76889)

Out or Not out?

— Pandit Pranoob (@pranoob76889)

Really?

I still blame KL Rahul. No sense of responsibility
— Robin (@robin_rounder)

Yup

If there wasn’t enough evidence to give KL Rahul out, third umpire should have stayed with the on field decision. This is daylight robbery.
— Shikhar Kumar (@Shikhar1481)

Sad

Whole country playing against 11 guys

~KL Rahul
— Mohit Thakur (@Mohit_tweeets)

Why?

Why does this happens only with India bat & pad unlucky kl rahul dismissal. Why was 3rd umpire in such a hurry there was only 1 spik that too when bat hit the pad, where was the conclusive evidence benifit of doubt goes with batsman this is unfair 😤
— Vanshika (@2000vanshika)

Not so clear though

Man that was clearly pad first

Feel for kl Rahul 🥲
— Saurav (@saurav_viratian)

Heart broken

Most of the days KL Rahul can't bat and on the days KL look solid the umpires don't let him bat 💔
— Dinda Academy (@academy_dinda)

Gone

KL Rahul was not out.

What’s the point of technology, when you can’t deliver what the 3rd umpire asked for - A split screen view of the angle from off side and snicko!

The off-side angle was never shown.
— Prabhneet Singh Bawa (@prabhneetbawa)

Black magic