Srinagar: Pakistan were in the hunt for the record chase before Australia skipper got wicket of Mohammad Rizwan in a controversial manner at MCG on the fourth day of the Test.
After seeing half the side back in pavillion, Mohammad Rizwan’s counterattacking innings seemed set to take Pakistan close to victory before he was given caught behind in a controversial way.
With target reduced to less than 100 owing to stand between Rizwan and Salman Agha, Pat Cummins struck late on to deliver a potentially fatal blow. However, the nature of the dismissal brought forth many protests from the Pakistan fans, including victim Mohammad Rizwan.
Rizwan was batting on 35 in the 62nd over when Cummins charged in for a second over of his spell to seek a crucial breakthrough. He chose to go down the path of brutal bumpers that seemed to trouble the batter and things came to a head on the fourth ball when the Kookaburra reared up off the deck to take Rizwan by surprise. He tried to get his body out of trouble’s way but was undone by the pace and the red cherry ended up deflecting off his arm into Alex Carey’s gloves. However, the umpire remained unmoved while Rizwan massaged the visible mark on his forearm, and after much discussion, Cummins reluctantly went upstairs to review the decision.
The hotspot showed that the ball had come off Rizwan’s glove strap and even though the likes of Marnus Labuschagne began their celebrations upon seeing the replay, the evidence seemed far from conclusive.
Nevertheless, the third umpire eventually ruled that the arm band was connected to Rizwan’s gloves and thus the batter should be deemed out much to the 31-year-old’s disbelief as he refused to take off.
Rizwan stood his ground arguing the decision with the on-field officials but ultimately caved in and walked off ruefully, provoking a barrage of controversy on Twitter.
