WATCH: KL Rahul pulls out of Keemo Paul delivery; umpire signals controversial dead-ball in Cuttack

KL Rahul pulls out of Keemo Paul delivery: The Indian opening batsman could have been in danger because of his delayed leave in Cuttack.

During the third ODI of the recently concluded West Indies’ tour of India in Cuttack, India opening batsman Lokesh Rahul pulled out of a delivery from West Indies all-rounder Keemo Paul in a controversial manner.

It all happened in the ninth over when Rahul decided to not offer a shot although after being in position to play the ball. Having made the right footwork, the 27-year old player would have been in problem had the ball hit the stumps.

Right after pulling out from the delivery, Rahul signaled towards the square leg region to indicate some sort of disturbance. While umpire Nitin Menon deemed the ball as a dead-ball, West Indies captain Kieron Pollard didn’t seem too pleased with the decision.

Pollard was later seen discussing with the umpire about the fact that the batsman had almost played a shot before pulling away.

ALSO WATCH: Lokesh Rahul’s sublime six off Alzarri Joseph in Cuttack

Opening the batting with vice-captain Rohit Sharma (63), Rahul’s fifth ODI half-century saw him scoring 77 (89) with the help of eight fours and a six as India sealed a 316-run chase in the penultimate over on the back of a brisk 30-run stand for the seventh wicket between all-rounder Ravindra Jadeja (39 not out) and pacer Shardul Thakur (17 not out).

Having scored 185 runs in three ODIs at an average of 61.66 and a strike rate of 88.94, Rahul ended the series as India’s second-highest run-scorer only behind Sharma (258 runs at an average of 86 and a strike rate of 100.38).

KL Rahul pulls out of Keemo Paul delivery

pic.twitter.com/dWUS64IauE

— Cricket_Videos (@CricketVideos16) December 23, 2019

How Twitterati reacted:

I’ve never seen that before. How can that be dead ball? KL Rahul went forward and then back to it!

— cricketingview (@cricketingview) December 22, 2019

Kl Rahul gully cricket moment…😂😂 had if the ball taken the nails off..then? #INDvsWI

— prudhvirajk (@rajvinay77) December 22, 2019

Could that be any LATE in Leaving KL Rahul?! A little annoying @suneerchowdhary #INDvsWI

— Joti Birdi (@BirdiOnBoundary) December 22, 2019

Surely that was too late for KL Rahul to back way from the stumps? Plus, he played at it! Ally that to several missed wides, and umpires Nitin Menon and Shaun George haven’t had the best of days.#INDvWI🏏🇮🇳🌴

— Guerilla Cricket (@guerillacricket) December 22, 2019

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About the author

Dixit Bhargav

Born and brought up in Pathankot, Dixit Bhargav is an engineering and sports management graduate who works as a Cricket Editor at The SportsRush. Having written more than 10,000 articles across more than five years at TSR, his first cricketing memory dates back to 2002 when former India captain Sourav Ganguly had waved his jersey at the historic Lord’s balcony. What followed for an 8-year-old was an instant adulation for both Ganguly and the sport. The optimist in him is waiting for the day when Punjab Kings will win their maiden Indian Premier League title. When not watching cricket, he is mostly found in a cinema hall watching a Punjabi movie.

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