It would be an understatement to say that captain Rohit Sharma angrily scolded spinner Kuldeep Yadav during the ongoing third India-Australia ODI at the MA Chidambaram Stadium.
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In all honesty, Sharma was furious with Yadav after he convinced him into wasting a review on the back of opting to challenge on-field umpire Nitin Menon’s decision wrongly. Sharma, who trusted his bowler but didn’t get anything out of it, was seen reprimanding him for wasting a crucial resource.
It all happened on the last delivery of the 39th over when Australia all-rounder Ashton Agar (17) missed a Yadav delivery as an attempt to defend the ball on the front foot resulting in no contact between the bat and ball.
Having just walked in to bat at No. 9, Agar was tentative with his defense and understandably so. Yadav, on the other hand, was highly desperate for a fourth wicket and that there was no understanding whatsoever regarding his observation of the situation.
Fuming Rohit Sharma scolds Kuldeep Yadav for wrong DRS call in Chennai ODI
With neither wicket-keeper batter KL Rahul nor any other close in-fielder excited about the appeal, Yadav put on display a one-man show with respect to persuading Sharma.
The fact that Sharma and India all-rounder Ravindra Jadeja (0/34) were laughing at Yadav’s request initially spoke a lot about their seriousness around the appeal. Having said that, the Indian skipper eventually fell for the left-arm bowler’s constant pleading.
Replays validated Menon’s judgement to rule the decision in Agar’s favour because the impact of the ball hitting the batter’s pad was outside the off-stump. Hence, not only Agar survived but the home team also lost a review which led to Sharma losing his cool.
Kuldeep Yadav picks three wickets in third ODI
Last of the six Indian bowlers to be introduced into the attack, Yadav picked bowling figures of 10-1-56-3 which included key wickets of the likes of David Warner (23), Marnus Labuschagne (28) and Alex Carey (31).
Following vice-captain Hardik Pandya (3/44) dismissing three batters right after the first powerplay, Yadav also picking three middle-order wickets denied the visiting team of any progress with the bat after captain Steven Smith (0) won the toss and chose to bat.
