Chennai: A visibly angry Indian captain Virat Kohli on Sunday lashed out at umpire Shaun George’s late run-out call involving Ravindra Jadeja during India’s first ODI against the West Indies here, saying he has never seen that happen on a cricket field.
“The people sitting outside cannot tell the fielder and they can’t ask the umpire about the run out. I have never seen this happen in cricket,” Kohli said at the post match presentation ceremony after India lost the first ODI by eight runs to hand West Indies a 1-0 lead in the three-match series.
The incident took place in the 48th over of India’s innings, when Jadeja went for a quick single but the fielder affected a direct hit at the striker’s end.
On-field umpire George did not give out out though Jadeja was short in the crease as replays would later show.
The umpire then went upstairs after the run-out was shown on the big screen and that raised question on the timing of the referral upstairs after the ball was dead.
West Indies skipper Kieron Pollard came up to umpire George as did all-rounder Roston Chase who had casually appealed after seeing the replays.
Kohli was seen walking towards the field angrily. Kohli, however, did not enter the ground as Jadeja walked back to the dressing room.
India rode half centuries from Shreyas Iyer (70) and Rishabh Pant (71) to post 287/8 after being asked to bat first on a slow wicket. But Shimron Hetmyer cracked a career-best 139 while Shai Hope scored an unbeaten 102 as the West Indies romped home with 13 balls to spare by putting up 291/2 in 47.5 overs.
“Hetmyer’s innings was outstanding,” said Kohli. Asked if they were a bowler short and if the sluggish pitch changed drastically under lights, he said: “They went about their business in a smart manner. We thought six bowling options would be enough. In hindsight, you could say we were a bowler short. I don’t think the pitch changed drastically, they batted brilliantly.”
“Very good signs for us with the performances of Iyer and Pant,” Kohli said.
