India Test skipper Virat Kohli on Friday shied away from throwing light on the controversial DRS call that had helped Proteas skipper Dean Elgar get his LBW decision overturned in the fourth innings of the Cape Town Test at Newlands in Cape Town, reports news agencies ANI and AFP.
Team India was visibly irked after a controversial Decision Review System call which helped Elgar on Day 3. The controversial call evoked different reactions from KL Rahul, skipper Virat Kohli, and spinner Ravichandran Ashwin.
After the defeat in the third Test, skipper Kohli said the visitors know what happened exactly and he is not there to justify his actions which had sparked a debate on Thursday.
“I have no comment to make. I understood what happened on the field and people on the outside don’t know exactly what goes on the field. So me to try and justify what we did on the field and say ‘we got carried away’.... If we would have charged up and picked up three wickets there that could have been probably the moment that could change the game,” said Kohli while replying to a query from ANI.
The incident occurred in the 21st over of the innings which was bowled by Ashwin. The spinner bowled a tossed-up delivery and it drifted in, beating Elgar on the inside edge and the ball struck him right in front of the stumps, and on-field umpire Marais Erasmus raised his finger.
Team India was shocked on seeing the ball going over the stumps and the stump mic caught Kohli, Ashwin, and Rahul suggesting some tampering with the technology. Even umpire Erasmus was seen shaking his head on how the ball was missing the stumps.
Meanwhile, South Africa on Friday defeated India in the third and final Test to clinch the three-match series 2-1.
Lack in applying pressure
Kohli feels India failed to apply pressure on South Africa throughout the course of the third Test match
“The reality of the situation is we did not apply enough pressure on him throughout the course of this Test match and hence we lost the game,” said Kohli.
“That one moment seems very nice and exciting to make a controversy out of but honestly I am not interested in it. That’s a moment and it has passed we moved on from it and we just focused on the game and tried to pick up wickets,” he added.
India had won the first Test by 113 runs but South Africa registered wins in the second and third Test to clinch the series.
Host broadcaster SuperSport meanwhile said it had no control over the Decision Review System (DRS) used in the series.
“SuperSport notes comments made by certain members of the Indian cricket team,” it told AFP.
“Hawk-Eye is an independent service provider, approved by the ICC and their technology has been accepted for many years as an integral part of DRS.
“SuperSport does not have any control over the Hawk-Eye technology.”
There has been no indication yet from match referee Andy Pycroft and the International Cricket Council whether any disciplinary action will be taken against Kohli, Rahul and Ashwin for their role in the incident.
Kohli avoids discussing Rahane, Pujara’s spot
Virat Kohli admitted that batting let the visitors down in the Test series against South Africa but did not directly comment on Cheteshwar Pujara and Ajinkya Rahane’s spot in the team.
“Batting has let us down in the last two games I would say and there is no running away. I can’t sit here and talk about what could happen in the future (about Pujara and Rahane),” said Kohli in the press conference.
Pujara scored 43 in the first innings and nine in the second innings of the final Test but Rahane failed to leave a mark in both innings as he scored nine and one in the third game.
Kohli said if any decision has to be taken on both batters’ future then it is the duty of selectors and not the captain.
“You probably have to speak to the selectors about what they have in mind because this is not my job. As I have said before, I would say again, we have continued to back Cheteshwar and Ajinkya because of the kind of players they are and what they have done in past in Test cricket,” said Kohli.
“They played crucial knocks in the second Test against South Africa in the second innings which got us to the total we could fight for, so these are the kind of performance we recognise in the team but what the selectors have in mind and what they decide to do obviously I cannot comment on that sitting here,” he added.