India were fighting in the first Test at Adelaide Oval against Australia on Day 5 as Nathan Lyon seemed to be lobbing grenades on a turning pitch. India had lost two wickets in pursuit of 364, but recovered well with Murali Vijay and Virat Kohli at the crease with personal scores of 47 and 25 respectively.
But the talk indeed was huge umpiring errors by Marais Erasmus who first ruled Shikhar Dhawan out when replays suggested the ball seemed to have brushed the shoulders and not the gloves and then, much to the chagrin of Lyon, decided Murali Vijay was not out who was on back foot plumb in front of the stumps shouldering the delivery he should have played.
If anything, the first session was a solid case why DRS has to be deployed irrespective of what Indian players think about it. It may seem errors eventually evened out, it still was horrible to see the rank bad decisions.
Australia declared on its overnight score of 290/5 and asked India to score 364 which is an enticing target, just over 4 runs per over. India began cautiously and both Dhawan and Vijay seemed intent on playing as long as they could. And then it happened.
Dhawan couldn’t believe his eyes as Erasmus decided his fate, and so did Haddin who couldn’t hide his glee as he stood up after hardly appealing and still getting his man. Dhawan was on 9 and India had lost the wicket very early.
And then after a few minutes, it was Murali Vijay’s turn to have won a lottery. Lyon bowled outside off, Vijay went back in his crease and stood tall, waiting for the delivery to come and hit him right in front of the stumps, offering no shot. The only logical response to a ferocious appeal by Lyon would have been instantly raising the finger. Erasmus, however, remained unmoved even as Lyon and other players kept shouting in disbelief.
As commentators discussed what must have been the rationale behind Erasmus’s decision, Vijay and Pujara went on with the business. Despite his horrid judgment on couple of occasions, Vijay seemed a more solid player against Lyon while Pujara never seemed to be sure of the length Lyon was bowling. Eventually, Pujara was rescued from any further awkwardness as a faint edge off Lyon was snapped by Haddin behind the stumps.
Kohli seemed confident from the moment he walked in. He drove and pulled confidently as Johnson tried to intimidate him. He was even better against Lyon, judging him perfectly and using the crease well to negate his threat.
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