Australia and India are leaving no stone unturned to gain momentum in the 3rd Test match at Sydney. Australia had pegged India back with 2 quick wickets yesterday and were looking to make more inroads into the Indian batting line-up. While Cheteshwar Pujara and Ajinkya Rahane held the fort for India with their tight defensive game, Australian bowling was impeccable. In midst of this intriguing battle came a boiling point in the 56th over of Indian innings. Pujara was battling hard against the spin of Nathan Lyon.
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The appeal against Pujara:
Pujara found it difficult to maneuver Lyon’s middle and leg-stump line. In his trademark batting style, Pujara offered a soft defense stroke when the ball lobbed in the air and it was grabbed by the short-leg fielder. The Australian immediately went up for an appeal thinking they had their man. But on-field umpire, Paul Wilson was unmoved. This prompted Australian skipper Tim Paine to take the matter upstairs and they went for a DRS review against Pujara. The Australian team were pretty convinced that there was a nick and were confident in their review. But to their dismay, DRS went against them as well. The Snickometre and Hotspot didn’t show any evidence of an inside edge.
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DRS favored India:
As part of the DRS review process, the appeal was even checked for LBW. But the ball trajectory showed that the delivery was clearly missing the stumps. Later, on checking any chances of LBW, the trajectory showed that the ball would have gone above the leg-stump. Looking at the big screen which deemed Pujara not-out and took away 1 one of Australia’s reviews, captain Paine wasn’t a happy man.
Australian captain, Paine had the choicest of words for the on-field umpire. It is reported that Paine asked the umpire for some ‘consistency’. The on-field umpire Wilson retorted to Paine saying, “I am not the third umpire”. The Aussie skipper went one note too high and replied, “F**king consistency blocker! There’s a thing that goes past it.” It is understood that Paine was suggesting about a similar spike which for him was given caught behind at MCG
Australia lose a review trying to prize out Pujara. Another fantastic decision by the umpire #AUSvIND pic.twitter.com/k1coiuhI1W
— cricket.com.au (@cricketcomau) January 8, 2021
How important was Pujara’s knock?
Paine’s anger was understandable as knew how important is the wicket of Pujara. The Indian No.3 was batting on 13 and he later went on to score 50 runs off 176 balls with the help of five fours. It was ultimately down to fast bowler Pat Cummins, who dismissed Pujara in the 89th over to bring an end to his rigid stay at the crease. Pujara was the joint top-scorer for India in their first innings with Shubman Gill, as both batsmen scored exactly 50 runs. India could muster only 244 runs in their first essay which left them behind the Aussie total by 94 runs. The Indian team needs a big knock from Pujara in the 2nd innings if they have to win the match.
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