The Kohli dismissal questions DRS' limitations

|Shiksha Dev|THE DEN|

A ball, bat, and pad appear to be in the same place. In his attempt to explain the TV umpire's decision, Virender Sharma told the on-field umpire, Anil Chaudhary, without any reservation-that the technology was not granular enough to determine whether it was pad first or bat first. It had nothing to do with the batter in question or the decision (the ball tracker showed it hitting the middle of the middle). There was a discussion about the technology and its limitations, but mostly about umpiring and interpreting cricket laws keeping in mind the actual sequence of events.

Kohli's comeback ended with a forward-defensive push at Patel's delivery. Since the ball was so tightly wedged between pad and bat, most on-field umpires would have thought twice before awarding the batter a strike. Despite Chaudhary taking his time to raise his finger, Kohli reviewed it in no time. Normally, Kohli reviews even when he is plumb, however, his instincts should be considered during close calls. We can assume Kohli wasn't sure and was checking. What did UltraEdge show? The ball spiked as it passed the bat, and the seam also seemed to be changing. However, the ball looked as though it was touching both the bat edge and the pad in the same frame. That led VVS Laxman to believe it was bat first. Wasim Jaffer and Michael Vaughan also believed this. Despite Simon Doull's leading the chorus of commentators later, nothing indicated the ball had first hit the pad and then the bat and then again the pad. He requested other angles, too, but they proved inconclusive. Since the decision was made by an umpire, right or wrong, Sharma couldn't overturn it. He had no other choice.