Team India captain Rohit Sharma expressed his confusion over the overturning of Rishabh Pant‘s decision on Day 3 of the third Test against New Zealand in Mumbai. He stated that he did not see any clear evidence warranting the reversal and felt the on-field decision should have stood.
The dismissal occurred when Pant advanced down the pitch, deflecting the ball from Ajaz Patel off his pad, which was caught by Tom Blundell. New Zealand captain Tom Latham, suspecting an edge, opted for DRS.
Replays showed a spike as the ball went past the bat, but the bat was also near the pad. Third umpire Paul Reiffel ruled Pant out, leading many on social media to argue there was insufficient evidence to change the original call.
In a post-match press conference, Rohit stated the following, as reported by Cricbuzz:
“About that dismissal, I honestly, I don’t know. If we say something, it is not accepted well. But if there is no conclusive evidence, it has to go, it has to stand with the umpire’s on-field decision. That is what I have been told. So, I don’t know how that decision was overturned since the umpire didn’t give him out.”
Pant’s dismissal significantly tilted the match in favor of the Black Caps. Ravichandran Ashwin and Washington Sundar managed to hold off for a few overs before Glenn Phillips dismissed Ashwin, followed by Akash Deep on the very next ball. Sundar was the final wicket to fall.
“It seemed like he would guide us to victory”- Rohit Sharma on Rishabh Pant
The 37-year-old has urged umpires to apply the rules consistently to all players rather than altering their approach for each situation.
“You know, the bat was clearly close to the pad. So, again, I don’t know if it is the right thing for me to talk about. It is something for the umpires to think about. Have the same rules for every team, not keep changing their mind.”
“But again, that dismissal actually was very, very crucial from our point of view. Rishabh was really looking good at that point and it felt like he will take us through. But it was an unfortunate dismissal, got out and then we were bowled out right after that.”
Rohit and the team will next travel to Australia for a five-Test series.
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