VIDEO | “Best friend” Rahul proves Agarwal’s kryptonite by suggesting against DRS on missing leg-stump LBW
Always trust your friend, but use your sane mind to save your wicket too. Mayank Agarwal and KL Rahul share a very good bond with each other but the latter’s advice of not to go for the DRS proved to be Agarwal’s kryptonite as replays indicated that the ball would have indeed missed the stumps.
Rahul was the best man in Agarwal’s wedding and ever since the duo played in the 2010 Under-19 World Cup together, they have always been in the good terms. Almost ironically, Agarwal replaced Rahul for the Melbourne Test for his debut and later, the duo joined forced to be India’s first-choice openers in Tests.
As they say, never trust your friend so much that you end up losing your mind. The case could very well find a perfect example as Rahul’s “bad advice” ended Agarwal’s stay in the middle. On the second ball of the 14th over, Roston Chase bowled a conventional off-break delivery and Agarwal was completely squared off against that delivery. He couldn’t take the feet out of the way and the judgemental error resulted in the ball hitting him in front of the stumps.
It didn’t take long for the umpire to raise his finger but Agarwal was not convinced about it. However, he decided against the review after a brief chat with his partner. The dip might have been the major reason behind Rahul opting against the review and Agarwal walked away without any complaints.
However, what happened after that was enough to boil Agarwal’s blood. The replay confirmed that there was plenty of extra bounce on that delivery and it would have indeed missed the stumps.