Jimmy Anderson was almost certain at mid-on that Rohit Sharma did hit it: Craig Overton on what led to England missing the DRS deadline
England seamer Craig Overton has opened up about his side's DRS goof-up on the 3rd Day of the ongoing Leeds Test. Skipper Joe Root missed the deadline by half a second to deny England the big scalp of Indian opener Rohit Sharma.
The incident took place on the fifth ball of the 32nd over when Ollie Robinson got one to jag back into Rohit. The ball hit the opener on his back leg and it looked plumb, but the umpire said not out.
The prospect of having an out-of-form Virat Kohli at the crease eventually prompted Root to take the review. Unfortunately for him and England, it proved to be too little too late as the umpire denied England the call due to the breach of the DRS deadline by half a second.
When asked about what led to the extended delay in challenging the on-field call, Overton revealed that the English team, including him and veteran seamer James Anderson, were certain that Rohit Sharma might have got some bat on the ball. Overton explained during the post-day presser:
"I think it was right on the borderline. I wasn't quite sure; I thought that he might have hit it, that's what the umpire thought. But then Jimmy was almost certain at mid-on that he did hit it. So, we weren't really quite sure. It would have been nice if we had taken it half a second earlier, we would have got the wicket. It was obviously frustrating for us but we have to just dig in and keep sticking at it."
Ultra-edge later did not show any conclusive evidence of Rohit Sharma hitting the ball. Had Root reviewed the decision, it would have been curtains for the Indian opener as the ball tracking confirmed that it would have smashed the middle-stump.
Ollie Robinson eventually dismissed Rohit Sharma
Ollie Robinson eventually had the last laugh as he dismissed Rohit Sharma immediately after Tea.
The dismissal took place against the run of play as Rohit, en-route to his second half-century of the series, looked in full control at the crease.
However, in an attempt to flick, he proceeded to miss a straight delivery from Robinson and this time, Richard Kettleborough gave his ruling in favor of the bowler.
Rohit Sharma, however, reviewed the on-field call, and to his utter dismay, the ball tracking revealed that it would have just kissed the leg pole.
It was extremely marginal but since the on-field decision was out, Rohit had to make his way back to the pavilion.
With Rohit Sharma back in the hut, England would have hoped to make further inroads into the Indian batting line-up. However, an unbeaten 99-run stand between Cheteshwar Pujara (91* off 180 balls) and skipper Virat Kohli (45* off 94 balls) ensured that it wasn't the case as the tourists ended Day 3 at 215/2 in 80 overs.