VIDEO | Windies take review after timer clock goes off to send Shikhar Dhawan packing
Death, taxes and umpiring mess-ups are the realities for a cricket fan and expecting anything other than more blunders in the Windies series would have been really foolish. As Nigel Llong gave another wrong call, the hosts overturned the decision with a review after the timer clock went off.
With KL Rahul sitting out, the pressure was on Shikhar Dhawan to deliver but Sheldon Cottrell’s left-arm pace created problems for him from the word go. On the third delivery of the match, the Jamaican bowled a good length delivery and considering the fact that Cottrell’s major weapon is to take the ball away from the lefties, and the Indian opener wasn’t prepared for anything else.
However, the ball held its line after pitching but Dhawan played outside the line of the ball. After the ball escaped the inside edge, it went on to clip the front pad and then smashed the back pad in line with middle and off. The dual sound that came with it convinced the umpire that there was an inside edge and he didn’t raise his finger.
However, there is a slender hope in the Windies side that it might actually go on their way. Wicket-keeper Shai Hope wanted the review immediately but Jason Holder decided to speak at length to the bowler and decided to go for the review only after that. But think what, after the DRS timer had gone on to nought but for reasons only known to Llong, he allowed the Windies team the review.
The reply clearly suggested that it would have hit the middle stump and after checking the RTS once, the third umpire confirmed the dismissal. The decision brought Cottrell’s salute celebration but it left a lot of questions about umpire’s intent - How did he allow a team to go for a review after the clock had run out?