New Delhi, Nov 3 Former South African wicketkeeper batter Ab de Villiers expressed his dissatisfaction at a controversial dismissal of Rishabh Pant day four of the third and final Test of the three-match series at the Wankhede Stadium in Mumbai on Sunday.
In the chase of 147, Pant kept the Indian hopes alive with a majestic half-century, mixing aggression with caution but the star wicketkeeper-batter was declared to be caught ‘bat-pad’ by the third umpire in a controversial decision by the third umpire.
Ajaz slowed it up a bit and bowled it full and on off. The ball turned back in sharply and with bounce as Pant tried to use feet and looked to defend. The ball passed close to his inside edge and popped up in the air with Kiwi keeper Tom Blundell lunging forward to complete the catch.
"Controversy! Little grey area once again. Did Pant get bat on that or not?", De Villiers poast on X.
New Zealand strongly appealed for a caught-behind, but the umpire was unmoved. Despite hesitation, skipper Tom Latham called for a review. Upon assessment, UltraEdge showed a spike as Pant’s bat hit his pad, with another spike when the ball neared the bat.
Pant then approached the umpires, asserting no bat contact. The third umpire, though, overturned the on-field umpire’s call and decided to give the decision in New Zealand's favour.
"Problem is when the ball passes the bat at exactly the same time a batter hits his pad, snicko will pick up the noise. But how sure are we he hit it? I’ve always worried about this and here it happens at a huge moment in a big Test match. Where’s hotspot?", De Villiers further wrote.
"Fact is there must’ve been doubt. Surely you stay with on-field call then? Unless the 3rd Ump clearly saw a deviation? I’m not so sure. And don’t get me wrong, I have no bias here, just pushing for consistent calls and good use of tech," he added.
Pant was seen having a word with the onfield umpires before he he takes the long walk back to the dressing room after scoring 64 off 57.
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