Decision to rule Rohit Sharma out has Twitter in splits

Though the on-field umpire gave the Indian batsman not out, the decision was overturned after the Windies chose to refer it to the third umpire.

June 27, 2019

It’s not the start India would have hoped for. Against a West Indian bowling line-up that has been impressive in their opening spells so far in the 2019 ICC Cricket World Cup, the Indian openers Rohit Sharma and KL Rahul resorted to a cautious approach and took their time to read the West Indies’ new ball bowlers, Sheldon Cottrell and Kemar Roach.

Rohit, in particular, was steady in reading Cottrell before going gung-ho. With a four and a six already in his kitty, the Mumbai batsman was beginning to open up against the quicks when he seemed to knick a full-pitched delivery from Roach into the hands of wicket-keeper Shai Hope. Though umpire Richard Illingworth didn’t see enough to rule him out, the Windies side chose to refer the decision to the third umpire. But what followed had many scratching their heads.

Michael Gough, the third umpire went on to ask Illingworth to reverse his decision even though Rohit looked to have left a gap between bat and pad as the ball sneaked through. And it was no surprise that the fans were soon up in arms against the decision.

While some questioned the law and its implementation:

Just curious, how is that conclusive evidence that the ball hit bat first and not the pad? There's enough doubt there, no? Shouldn't the umpire be sticking with the on-field decision?

— Vinayakk (@vinayakkm)

Some chose to vent on the social media platform:

Absolutely 3rd Grade decision from 3rd umpire to give out

— Raj Ambike/राज अंबिके (@Ambikeraj)

On field umpires make mistakes, understandable. But how can 3rd Umpires make such mistakes. Why doesn't ICC fine umpires for poor decisions?

— Sir Jadeja fan (@SirJadeja)

Did that hit the bat or pad and was it conclusive? doesn’t think so but the umpire says out and that’s what matters for the West Indies.

— Boria Majumdar (@BoriaMajumdar)

Meanwhile, there was no dearth of humour, too: