“He’s just obviously hit that”: Jimmy Neesham criticizes Ulhas Gandhe umpire as Virat Kohli out lbw vs Mumbai Indians

Ulhas Gandhe umpire: The third umpire came under the spotlight for a controversial decision involving Virat Kohli.

During the 18th match of the ongoing 15th season of the Indian Premier League between Royal Challengers Bangalore and Mumbai Indians in Pune, Mumbai Indians part-time spinner Dewald Brevis picked the all-important wicket of former Royal Challengers Bangalore captain Virat Kohli (48) off his first ball in the tournament.

It all happened in what ended up becoming the last over of the match when Brevis found Kohli wanting in front of the stumps. A loud appeal was followed by umpire KN Ananthapadmanabhan raising his finger in the bowler’s favour.

Kohli, who not only challenged the umpire’s decision but also signaled his bat towards him, appeared to be quite confident about hitting the ball.

While the replays all but confirmed the same, third umpire Ulhas Gandhe was of the opinion that the ball hit and bat and pad simultaneously. Hence, Gandhe ruled the decision in Ananthapadmanabhan’s favour in the absence of a conclusive evidence.

Visibly unhappy and frustrated, Kohli walked back to the pavilion after hitting five fours at a strike rate of 133.33. Having batted quite sensibly to share an 80-run partnership for the second wicket alongside opening batter Anuj Rawat (66) in a chase, Kohli was dismissed when Bangalore needed only eight runs in two overs to seal a 152-run chase.

Playing his first-ever match of the seaosn, all-rounder Glenn Maxwell hit consecutive boundaries to seal the chase with nine balls to spare.

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