IND vs AUS: Virat Kohli's controversial wicket in accordance with ICC laws? Read here

As wickets kept tumbling at the other end, the onus laid on Virat Kohli to anchor the innings and take India closer to Australia's first innings total of 263. Alas! Kohli was given out, with what many may deem controversial.

Given LBW Kohli reviewed straight away. His reaction reiterating belief that the ball found the edge of the bat. The Ultra Edge showed there was a spike as the ball found itself sandwiched between bat and pad. A difficult call to make for the third umpire, but with soft signal being out, hope drained away with every passing replay.

Ball tracking showed that the ball grazed the stumps as Nitin Menon was asked to stick to his original decision leaving Kohli and Indian fans in disbelief.

Matthew Kuhnemann became the second debutant in this series to take the prized scalp of the former Indian captain after Todd Murphy dismissed him in the 1st Test.

What does the ICC Law state? 

According to the ICC LBW law, 36.2.2 states that if the ball makes contact with the striker’s person and bat simultaneously, this shall be considered as the ball having first touched the bat.

As could be seen with Kohli's dismissal, the ball made contact with the bat and pad and was not clearly evident with what it made contact with at first.

The dismissal is sure to dominate the post-session talk as well as social media and could be a turning point in the Indian innings.

Kohli's wicket left the floodgates open for the Australian spinners to fish with the Indian tail on a pitch thats provided fiesty turn. 

Published on: Saturday, February 18, 2023, 02:01 PM IST