KL Rahul’s controversial dismissal is the major talking point from the opening session of the first Border-Gavaskar Trophy Test between India and Australia in Perth. The right-handed KL Rahul, who looked the most assured of all the Indian batters at the Optus Stadium, was controversially deemed out off the bowling of Mitchell Starc. The batter had to walk back to the pavilion after scoring 26 runs. The batter was given out after Australia took a review right on the stroke of lunch on Day 1.
The on-field umpire Richard Kettleborough did not give it out initially, however, it was overturned after a spike made its way on Snicko. However, as soon as the replays were showed, Rahul felt that the spike originated from the bat hitting his pad.
The opening batter walked back in absolute disbelief. He was even seen chatting with the umpires before walking back to the hut.
Michael Hussey, who was on air, at that time for Fox Cricket, said, “That’s controversial. There was a spike on the Snicko, but was the spike coming from the ball hitting the bat, or was it the bat hitting his pad?”
“You can see the bat just clipping the pad, so you’ve just got to get the timing right … there’s got to be some doubt there in my mind,” he added.
Ravi Shastri, Robin Uthappa, and Aakash Chopra criticise the overturned verdict
Former Team India head coach Ravi Shastri, who is calling the game for Fox Cricket chipped in with his take, saying, “My initial reaction was, was there enough evidence there for the third umpire to overrule what was given. It was not out on the field of play. Did I see enough there for me to be convinced? I didn’t see enough, to be honest.”
Former India cricketers Robin Uthappa and Aakash Chopra were also not pleased with the overturned verdict, saying the third umpire Richard Illingworth did not have concrete evidence to change the decision.
Taking to X, Uthappa wrote, “How a third umpire makes a decision without accessing all angles!! Poor!! Just Piss poor!! #BGT2025.”
On the other hand, Aakash Chopra said, “Front on angle not available at the time of interception??? On-field umpire’s decision not-out. Was there conclusive evidence to overturn the decision? Bat hit the pad for sure…visible confirmation…then why not two spikes on the Ultra-Edge? Ridiculous umpiring from the box,” he added.
Former India batter Wasim Jaffer deemed it as “poor use of technology”, saying proper protocol was not followed by the third umpire.
“Third umpire asked for another angle which wasn’t provided. I’d assume he’d only ask for another angle if he wasn’t sure. Then if he wasn’t sure, why did he overturn the on field not out call? Poor use of technology and proper protocol not followed. KL hard done by. #AUSvIND,” Jaffer tweeted.
Former India batter Sanjay Manjrekar on Disney+ Hotstar said, “It was poor all round. I think the on-field umpires had made the correct call. There was no conclusive evidence.”
However, former Australia all-rounder Tom Moody felt that the third umpire had no option but other than to give it out. “I don’t think he had any choice other than to give it out,” Moody said on ABC.
Earlier, India captain Jasprit Bumrah won the toss and opted to bat first. Yashasvi Jaiswal, Devdutt Padikkal and Virat Kohli all lost their wickets cheaply. India have handed out debuts to Nitish Kumar Reddy and Harshit Rana in Perth.
