India vs Australia 2017: Steven Smith reveals how a communication gap led to Shaun Marsh's costly non-review
What’s the story?
Australian skipper Steven Smith has attributed Shaun Marsh’s costly non-review to a communication gap between the two of them during the fourth day of the second Test against India at the M Chinnaswamy Stadium in Bengaluru.
Speaking to reporters at the end of the match, the 27-year old revealed, “In regards to Shaun’s one, we weren’t entirely sure (to use the Decision Review System). I sort of said ‘go’ as in ‘go have a look at it’ and he turned around and started walking. I should’ve probably just put my hands up and done it. We saw the replay and it was missing the stumps so it would have been a nice one to have reviewed.”
“(It) could have been important. Shaun was looking pretty good. (Hence it was a) disappointing wicket at that time. But that's the game of cricket, you have to move on from there.”
The background
Chasing 188 for glory, Australia saw openers Matt Renshaw and David Warner sent back to the dressing room before they could take the total to 50. The latter reviewed his leg-before decision only to find that it was umpire’s call on both the impact and striking the stumps. As a consequence, the visitors lost one of their two reviews in the tenth over itself.
The heart of the matter
When Umesh Yadav exploited the cracks on the surface to produce a delivery which jagged back sharply, Marsh hesitantly shouldered arms. Amidst a vociferous appeal, the on-field umpire Nigel Llong was convinced that the ball was going on to hit the stumps.
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Concerned by the danger of losing their solitary review, Smith and Marsh had a long chat before they eventually decided against sending the decision upstairs. However, replays showed that the ball had missed the stumps by some margin. Upon getting to know that Australia had missed an opportunity, the skipper’s body language began to change.
What happened next?
Smith soon followed Marsh to the pavilion after Umesh unleashed one to scoot inches over the surface. As he looked towards the dressing room for a signal on using DRS, Virat Kohli complained to the umpires who defused a tense situation. With star off-spinner Ravichandran Ashwin getting back into form, India sealed a thrilling 75-run victory to get back into the series.
However, the DRS controversy spilt over off the field with the Indian captain taking aim at his counterpart in the post-match press conference.
Sportskeeda’s take
Even though it looked extremely close, the decision to not review Marsh’s dismissal turned out to be a costly one for Australia. Considering the fact that the left-hander had been their top-scorer in the first innings, the visitors could have taken a calculated gamble. All in all, Smith’s team had a troubled affair with the DRS on the fourth day’s play.