‘Clear gap’ vs ‘Kohli is lucky’ – Social media on fire after UltraEdge shows minor spike in Kohli’s not out call

Technology is expected to solve problems in decision-making, but an incident involving Indian Test skipper Virat Kohli only added further questions and confusion during the 3rd Test between South Africa and India at Newlands, Cape Town. Towards the end of the second session on Day 1, Duanne Olivier’s down-the-leg delivery clipped Virat Kohli’s pads and the keeper looked very confident there was an edge.

Although on-field umpire Adrian Holdstock seemed uninterested, Dean Elgar went up for a review. The initial front-cam visions confirmed that the deflection came off his thigh pads, but the ultra edge showed a tiny spike when the ball was close to the bat. However, there was a little daylight between bat and ball when the spike came up, which made the case a lot more confusing.

Third umpire Allahudien Paleker suggested that there was a gap between bat and ball when the spike arose, and the evidence provided by technology wasn’t enough for him to overturn the on-field decision. The South African fielders who cheered when the spike came up on the big screen, were left bamboozled. Marais Erasmus, the other on-field umpire, went over to explain the scenario, but Elgar and company looked unimpressed.

Kohli gets a gritty fifty despite top-order failure

Virat Kohli went on to complete his half-century, which infuriated the South African bowlers further. The 33-year-old hung in the middle despite the Indian top order failing to put on a good show. KL Rahul and Mayank Agarwal negotiated the opening 10 overs but got out in quick succession. Cheteshwar Pujara and Ajinkya Rahane looked confident but struggled to get a big score.

Also Read: Has Ishant Sharma already played his last Test match for India?

Kohli resisted the temptation to go after the bowlers on many occasions and was determined to hang on for as long as he can. Having won the toss and elected to bat first, the Indians will be looking to put up a big total to register their first-ever Test series win in South Africa, but that can only happen if the skipper hangs around until the end of the first day, and potentially another session tomorrow.

The DRS call will remain a major talking point on Tuesday and take a look at how divisive Twitterati has been about it