England was left frustrated after an umpiring error denied them a wicket on day one of the second Test against India in Chennai.
The visitors were enraged after their appeal to third umpire Anil Chaudhary was rejected, despite Ajinkya Rahane looping a catch to Ollie Pope at short leg.
Rahane’s glove clipped the ball after it touched his front pad but Jack Leach was denied the wicket despite the technology being available to Chaudhary.
The third umpire, who was brilliant in his role in the first Test, failed to run the footage thoroughly and appeared to check only the moment the bat passed the bat.
This failed to establish that the ball touched Rahane’s gloves and was given ‘not out’ by the third umpire, much to England’s frustration.
“We were trying to get them to roll it through,” Leach said at the close of play. “We felt it came after they checked the lbw which we knew wasn’t out. That’s alright. It was a mistake and these things happen.”
“There’s nothing I can do, at the time I was a little bit angry, but getting a wicket the next over makes it a little bit easier, it’s not cost us too much. And we’ve got our review back which is also important. But I’d rather have three [wickets] than two, I guess,” he added.
While later the TV coverage clearly showed that Rahane should have been given out, seemingly in concession of the error.
However, the Indian vice-captain did not reap any benefit from this mistake, as he was dismissed six balls later by Moeen Ali.
Additionally, Leach also explained his frustration when Chaudhary gave Rohit Sharma not-out on a stumping review. The available footage rendered it hard to tell if Sharma’s back leg was behind the line.
Rohit Sharma scored 161 as India recovered from 86 for 3 to reach a comfortable position on a surface which has taken a turn since first half-hour of the match.
