Pat Cummins Denied DRS Over Controversial Third Umpire Call, Shastri, Gilchrist Baffled. watch

The start of play on Day 4 of the 4th Test between India and Australia produced an epic incident at the Melbourne Cricket Ground on Sunday as Pat Cummins tried to review a decision given by the third umpire. It all happened as Australia appealed for the dismissal of Mohammed Siraj, who seemed to have edged a delivery into the hands of a fielder in slips. Unsure about the dismissal, the on-field umpires decided to refer the matter to the third umpire, who felt that the ball bounced on the pitch after hitting SIraj’s bat.

As the third umpire gave the decision in the batter’s favour, Cummins and his team protested against the call, with the Australia skipper even signaling DRS, asking for the call to be reviewed again. However, the on-field umpire informed him that a decision has already been given by the third umpire. Hence, it can’t be reviewed again.

As the matter was discussed in the commentary box, former India cricketer Irfan Pathan mocked Australia, saying the hosts are probably thinking it’s 2008 where they can influence umpires.

“This is very interesting. I have never seen this before. He is saying, ‘You, as umpires, took it upstairs on your own behalf, but I want to review the decision.’ I do think it needs to be looked at very closely,” Gilchrist said on air.

“The umpire said I’ve seen the ball bounce after it hit the bat. That was a very quick call, a very quick call, just two replays,” Shastri said.

For the unversed, many umpiring decisions went against India during their tour of Australia in 2007–08. For instance, Andrew Symonds was not given out despite a clear deflection off his bat.

On the other hand, India’s Yuvraj Singh was given out caught despite the ball not touching his bat. During one of the instances, Australia captain Ricky Ponting told the umpire that Sourav Ganguly was caught cleanly in the slip cordon but that wasn’t the case.