Lyon on controversial Kohli dismissal: 'The right decision was made'

Virat Kohli's dismissal is always an event in itself. There are two reasons for that. Primarily it is because of the value attached to it. With the stature that he has in international cricket, it carries great value to the opposition under any circumstances. 

On Day 2 of the India vs Australia second Test in Delhi, it was perhaps the most important of the game as Kohli was looking in supreme touch and was standing between Australia and a big first-innings lead. Secondly, Kohli's antics after getting dismissed or his unhappiness at the umpire's decision is a sight for any cricket fan.

On Saturday, both of these factors came into play making his dismissal the first real controversial moment, if we can call it that, of this Border-Gavaskar Trophy which has been played in fantastic spirits between the players of both India and Australia.

In the second session, debutant Matthew Kuhnemann managed to sneak past Virat Kohli's bat and hit his pads. The former India captain was given out by on-field umpire Nitin Menon. He immediately went for a review suggesting that he might have got an inside edge. Kohli also asked his batting partner KS Bharat whether the ball was sliding down the leg side. He was correct in both of his doubts.

The replays showed that the ball may have hit his pad and the bat simultaneously. But because he was given out on the field, the third umpire - Richard Illingworth - did not have conclusive evidence to overturn it by concluding that the ball hit his bat. He went with the on-field umpire's decision and asked for ball-tracking. There also, the tracker showed that the ball would have just clipped the leg stump.

The third umpire decided to stay with the on-field umpire's call and asked Menon to give the marching orders to Kohli, who was livid while walking back to the pavilion for 44. He wasn't convinced at all. Even after returning to the dressing room, Kohli was seen watching replays of his dismissal and expressing his dismay.

The incident sparked a debate among the experts of Star Sports. While everyone agreed that it was a very close call and could have gone either way, former Australia batter Mark Waugh said "nine out of 10 times, it would have been not out."

Nathan Lyon, who had bowled superbly well, taking the first four Indian wickets in the morning session and then returning to dismiss Bharat to complete his 22nd five-wicket haul, said "the right decision was made."

"I think the right decision was made. No doubt Virat would be saying that (he hit it) and it probably should have gone his way. Hats off to the umpires. It's tough in these conditions. We bowlers are trying to put pressure on them to get the decision in our favour. In the end, the decision was right," the off-spinner on Star Sports after the close of the second day's play.

"I think where Virat was unlucky was with the initial decision. It was a 50-50 call. A lot of time the umpire would give that not out. On another day, it would have been given not out initially. You can argue that it did just brush the pad slightly before the bat did. The ball tracking also showed that they would have just clipped the stumps so going by the law, they got it right," added Mark Waugh.

At the end of the day, Australia were 61/1 in their second innings, enjoying a lead of 62 runs after bowling India out 1 run shy of their first innings total of 263.