Indian opener KL Rahul was the lone bright spot for India as he fought hard throughout the first session, adapting to the challenging conditions at the Optus stadium in Perth. However, the batter was eventually dismissed for 26 off the bowling of Mitchell Starc in a controversial decision by the third umpire.
A delivery from Starc went past Rahul's bat with a distinguishable sound, leaving Aussie players excited but on-field umpire Richard Illingworth wasn't interested. The decision was soon reviewed by the Kangaroos and the third umpire had a close look at the delivery multiple times.
The review revealed a sound coinciding with a spike on the Snickometer as the ball passed Rahul's bat. However, the ball also appeared to hit the batter's pad at nearly the same moment, making it difficult to draw definitive conclusions.
Despite the ambiguity, the third umpire instructed Illingworth to overturn his decision, declaring Rahul OUT. The call immediately sparked outrage on social media and drew criticism from Australian commentators, who questioned whether there was sufficient evidence to overturn the on-field decision.
Former Australian cricketer Matthew Hayden, part of the commentary panel, reacted to the dismissal on air and said, "His pad and bat are not together at that point in time as the ball passes. It's (bat hitting pad) after, in fact, the ball passes the edge. Does Snicko pick up the sound of the bat hitting the pad? We're assuming (Snicko) may be the outside edge of the bat but that may not be the case."
Former Indian cricketer Wasim Jaffer, while reacting to the dismissal, wrote on X, “Third umpire asked for another angle which wasn't provided. I'd assume he'd only ask for another angle if he wasn't sure. Then if he wasn't sure, why did he overturn the on field not out call? Poor use of technology and proper protocol not followed. KL hard done by.”
“Either way, it should not have been over turned. No offside cameras at all and no front on camera - the only replay where you could actually see the bat & ball was after it had been given. No way to be conclusive about that decision at all.” wrote one user
Another user noted, "Clearly not out. Poor DRS used. No hotspot, no audio, no other angles, can't freeze the ball next to the bat. There was a spike after the ball had passed, and the spike is from his bat hitting the pad. Bias 3rd umpire and poor technology used"
“Strange as to how the DRS replay is cropped here. Makes it hard to determine whether the spike was the ball hitting the edge or whether it was bat on pad. Seems to be a gap there in the bottom right corner.” Added yet another user
“That is a disgraceful decision. Farcical” noted another user
