England handed India a target of 193 on Day 3 of the third Test at Lord’s, but the drama could’ve been trimmed by four runs if not for an umpiring howler that had Indian players fuming and commentators utterly perplexed.
Joe Root was on 36 and digging in when Mohammed Siraj angled one in that rapped him square on the pads. The Indians, especially Siraj and skipper Shubman Gill, went up in unison, certain they'd got their man. But umpire Paul Reiffel stood his ground. A stunned Siraj didn’t waste a second to signal for the DRS.
Replays showed the ball had pitched in line, struck in line, and was on course to clip the top of the leg stump. But because it was just brushing the stumps, the dreaded ‘umpire’s call’ came to Root’s rescue.
Sunil Gavaskar, on air at the time, didn’t hold back.
'I cannot believe the ball has moved that much. You're saying it was going to kiss the leg stump? There's no way. It was knocking the leg stump off. The only good thing is that India have not lost the review,' Gavaskar remarked, with disbelief palpable in his voice.
Siraj was visibly irate. Wicketkeeper Dhruv Jurel threw his arms in frustration. KL Rahul couldn’t believe what he’d seen, and Gill, leading India in this Test, just shook his head in disbelief.
England’s lucky break didn’t last too long though. Washington Sundar accounted for Root not long after, his dismissal setting off a clinical clean-up by the Indian bowlers and they bowled England out for 192, clean bowling the rest.
Jonathan Trott, watching from the commentary box as part of the English broadcast panel, was equally stunned by the call.
'I am flabbergasted. Having looked at that replay, I thought it was crashing into the inside part of the leg stump. Watching it in real time, I couldn't believe it was missing. When you saw that normal speed, it was hardly missing a leg stump. England survive again. India animated,' he said, echoing the sentiments of fans and pundits alike.
India need a further 135 runs to win going into day 5.
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