Virat Kohli, Ashwin lose their cool, slam broadcaster SuperSport over contentious DRS reprieve to Dean Elgar

After
South
Africa
skipper
Dean
Elgar
got
a
massive
reprieve
due
to
a
contentious
DRS
decision,
the
Indian
captain
along
with
his
teammates
lost
their
cool
and
vented
their
anger
on
the
stump
mic.

The
Indian
players
also
made
some
of
the
unsavoury
comments
over
umpiring
and
technology
as
well
as
broadcasters,
which
might
not
go
down
well
with
the
match
referee.
As
a
result,
the
Indian
skipper
may
have
to
cop
a
financial
penalty.

What
was
the
matter:

The
incident
happened
in
the
21st
over
when
off-spinner
Ravichandran
Ashwin
flighted
one
which
dipped
and
then
straightened
to
beat
a
lunging
Elgar’s
bat.
Umpire
Marais
Erasmus
straightaway
lifted
his
finger
but
Elgar
appealed
for
DRS.

Once
he
saw
on
the
big
screen
that
he
was
beaten,
he
started
trudging
back
only
to
his
delight
to
find
that
the
ball
was
going
over
the
stumps.
While
it
looked
dead
plumb,
the
reversal
of
decision
saw
Kohli
kicking
the
ground
in
disgust
as
all
kinds
of
chatter
started.

Shocked
India
players
lose
their
cool:

The
players
knowing
that
the
stump
microphone
catches
every
bit
of
verbal
stuff,
the
players
made
it
a
point
to
let
everyone
in
South
Africa
know
their
feelings.

Ashwin
also
could
not
stop
himself
from
taking
a
dig
at
the
ball-tracking
technology
of
the
broadcaster,
saying,
“You
should
find
better
ways
to
win
Supersport.”

Even
umpire
Erasmus
couldn’t
believe
his
eyes
and
the
stump
mic
heard
him
saying,
“That’s
not
possible.”

Dejected
with
the
shocking
decision,
KL
Rahul
was
heard
saying,
“Whole
country
playing
against
XI
guys,”
as
the
opener
tried
to
lift
the
morale
of
his
teammates.

Another
of
his
teammates
said,
“broadcasters
are
here
to
make
money
boys.”
“I
hope
the
stump
microphone
is
recording
it,”
said
another.

Kohli
added
to
that,”Focus
on
your
team
as
well
and
not
just
the
opposition.
Trying
to
catch
people
all
the
time.”

Kohli
had
in
fact
sledged
Elgar
even
before
that
when
he
made
a
snide
remark
about
Elgar
being
intimidated
by
Jasprit
Bumrah.
“Unbelievable.
After
a
Man
of
the
Match
performance
in
the
last
game,
running
(away)
from
Jasprit.
Chirping
for
13
years,
Dean
and
you
think
you
are
gonna
keep
me
quiet,”
Kohli
said
from
slips.

Chatter
off
the
pitch:

However,
this
constant
chatter
did
allow
the
focus
to
drift
as
South
Africa
got
some
quick
runs
after
that.
Continuing
the
constant
criticism
of
the
decision
seemed
like
an
excuse
for
yet
another
shoddy
batting
show
with
223
and
198
being
the
scores.
At
the
end
of
the
day’s
play,
India
bowling
coach
Paras
Mhambrey
tried
to
douse
the
fire.

“We
saw
it,
you
saw
it.
I’ll
leave
that
for
the
match
referee
to
have
a
look
at
it.
There’s
nothing
I
can
comment
on
it
now.
We’ve
seen
it
all,
just
want
to
move
on
with
the
game
now.”

While
there
was
debate
about
the
contentious
DRS
not
just
on
the
pitch,
in
fact,
several
experts
were
also
left
stunned
as
the
leg
before
a
decision
was
overturned.

“Cheating
biased
ball
tracker,”
tweeted
senior
Australia
journalist
Rick
Eyre.

India’s
cricketer-turned-commentator
Aakash
Chopra
also
expressed
his
shock
over
the
decision
and
wrote
on
Twitter,
“Can’t
wrap
my
head
around
the
ball-tracking
technology
for
two
dismissals
in
this
series
-how
did
Mayank
Agarwal’s
didn’t
miss
in
the
first
Test.
And
how
did
this
one
against
Elgar’s
miss?
Bewildered
Flushed
face
#SavInd.”

India
cricketer
Abhinav
Mukund
tweeted,
“Wowww..
wickets
missing???”

Former
India
opener
Wasim
Jaffer
also
brought
the
technology
under
the
scanner
and
wrote,
“You
know
how
they
say
technology
is
99%
accurate.
Well,
today
we
saw
the
other
1%.
#SAvIND”

“I
have
now
seen
the
replay
so
so
many
times
and
know
why
@msdhoni
never
trusted
ball
trajectory.
So
many
commentators
have
explained
this
time
and
again
but
perhaps
this
can
open
the
debate
once
again.
Which
other
sport
allows
you
to
predict?
How
can
you
predict?
No
sport
does,”
tweeted
senior
journalist
Boria
Majumdar.

Veteran
commentator
Ayaz
Menon,
however,
called
Kohli
&
Co’s
actions
uncalled
for
and
wrote,
“Bad
form
by
Kohli
&
Co
to
contest
DRS
decision
v
Elgar.
There
are
shortcomings
in
such
technology,
but
others
can
also
dig
up
decisions
that
have
gone
in
your
favour.
Truth
is
India
batted
poorly,
SA
bowled
&
batted
superbly
today
which
is
why
match
is
in
the
situation
it
is.”

(With
PTI
inputs)