Virat Kohli is a powerful figure in Indian cricket without a shade of doubt. From team selection to appointment of coaches and other management decisions, the skipper is believed to play a key role, even if not interfering publically.
At Ranchi, as he reviewed the on-field umpiring decision that went against him, one couldn’t help but wonder if his power has transcended acceptable levels. Anrich Nortje was vehemently celebrating as Kohli was trapped in front of an in-decker from the two-Test old pacer. The umpire had raised his fingers and Kohli immediately consulted with Rohit Sharma before pointing to the umpire with a T-signal, calling for a review.
The review showed that the ball pitched right, the impact was in line and that the ball was hitting the stumps marginally resulting in an umpire’s call which meant that the skipper had to take a long walk back.
As it turns out, this is the ninth straight unsuccessful review Virat Kohli has taken while batting and being adjudged out.
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9 successive instances of |
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SL in Delhi — lbw Sandakan |
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SA in Cape Town — lbw Philander |
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SA at Centurion — lbw Ngidi |
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ENG at Edgbaston—lbw Stokes |
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ENG at Lord’s—c Pope b Broad |
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ENG at Trent Bridge— lbw Woakes |
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ENG at Southampton —c Cook b Ali |
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WI at Hyderabad—lbw Holder |
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SA at Ranchi—lbw Nortje |
The last time when Virat Kohli successfully used DRS to overturn a decision against him as a batsman was in Kolkata against Sri Lanka in 2017. Since then Kohli has been unsuccessful in overturning decisions against him on nine successive occasions in Tests.
For a captain at least, that’s a horrible record. Only three of those (Trent Bridge, Hyderabad and Ranchi) were umpire’s call which means that on the remaining six occasions, his decision to call upon DRS cost India a review.
While some fans have questioned ball tracking, some others have questioned Kohli’s poor decision making.
Thats unfair. You should not be judged out if its only clipping the leg stump..#Kohli_out #INDvSA #DRS_verdict @sanjaymanjrekar @cricketaakash @bhogleharsha @BCCI @cricbuzz @ESPNcricinfo
— Himank Shekhar (@himank94) October 19, 2019
Love how Virat Kohli and some of his cronies sitting in the commentary box newly discover the umpire's call rule in DRS everytime a decision doesn't go their way.#INDvsSA
— Eamon Lahiri ⚒ (@TheSimianFreud) October 19, 2019
@bhogleharsha
— Amit Nandi (@AmiDeeP007) October 19, 2019
I am big fan of yours. I follow and play cricket, but the rule change in the DRS has confused me a lot, specially in the LBW cases.
Could you please explain the difference between Cheteshwar Pujara @cheteshwar1 and Virat Kohli @imVkohli wickets. #IndiaVsSa
But it also raises another pertinent question. Are the non-striker’s, often the decision makers when it comes to reviewing, scared to tell Virat Kohli that he cannot take a review? If in two years, Kohli has used nine reviews in vain, it also speaks volumes about the non-strikers who are either equally poor in spotting that the review would be in vain or hesitate to tell their skipper that the review would be wasted.
Feature image courtesy: AFP/ Noah Saleem
