The third and final Twenty20 International between India and Australia at the Sydney Cricket Ground saw a moment of controversy during Australia’s innings. In the 11th over of the innings bowled by T Natarajan, Matthew Wade missed a flick and was hit on the pads. There was a half-appeal for an LBW but the umpire did not give it out. India went for the review but apparently, Virat Kohli was late on the call and the review was disallowed. The situation became even more confounding when the third umpire had started with the process and then bailed out. Replays had shown that the ball had straightened enough and was hitting the middle and leg stump. Matthew Wade went on to make 80 and Australia managed to hold on to victory by 12 runs. However, the DRS controversy was highlighted by Virat Kohli in the post-match press conference, stating that this is ‘not done’.
“That LBW was a strange one because we were still discussing whether the ball was going down and within the 15-second time, they showed the replay on the screen. We decided to go for the review but the umpire said they have already shown the replay on the screen. I had a chat with Rod (Tucker, the umpire) and said: ''what do we do in this situation'' and he said ''nothing can be done. It's a mistake from TV,” Virat Kohli said.
Virat Kohli also said that the Indian cricket team had made their displeasure known to the authorities and stated that such a situation should not arise in international cricket. “I thought from the management perspective, a message has to be passed that this can't be done at the highest level because in a very important game, it can be very costly. It was a little bit of a miss from the TV guys upstairs and I am sure it won't be repeated,” Kohli said.
Finishing 2020 on a high
The Indian cricket team suffered their first loss in a Twenty20 International in 2020 but it was a great year for them, having won a series in New Zealand 5-0 as well as becoming the second nation after Sri Lanka to win two or more Twenty20 Internationals in Australia. Virat Kohli said the intensity that the Indian cricket team showed in the Twenty20 Internationals must be repeated even in the Tests.
“We are finding ways to come back and give the opposition a scare and the series win is a little asterisk for us to finish the 2020 season on a high. I feel the crowd was a factor as well, it's always giving you a dimension of motivation. Our crowd pulls us through sometimes, and Australia's too, and we as players feed off the crowd's energy. We need to take the same competitive attitude into the Tests, and having played here a few times, we can score runs as well. Once it's time to capitalize and score, we need to do that session by session. I'm sure the current side is stronger than last time (Test matches) and I'll see if I can play the tour match,” Virat Kohli said during the post-match presentation.
