'Virat's face said that he felt cheated': Ajmal sides with Kohli on DRS row, says 'ball would have hit the middle stump'
Former Pakistan spinner Saeed Ajmal has sided with Indian team and its captain Virat Kohli in the controversial DRS episode that unfolded on Day 3 of the Cape Town Test.
Former Pakistan spinner Saeed Ajmal has sided with Indian team and its captain Virat Kohli in the controversial DRS episode that unfolded on Day 3 of the Cape Town Test. South Africa captain Dean Elgar had a close shave after an LBW decision against him was overturned.
In the 21st over, spinner R Ashwin rapped Elgar on the pads with umpire Marais Erasmus raining his finger, but upon reviewing it, the hawk-eye showed that the ball would have missed the stumps and gone over the top, leading to an absolute uproar in the Indian camp. Ajmal feels Kohli and India were hard done by the decision and reckons it would have clipped the middle stump.
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"I don't think it was going above the stumps. When I looked at the replay, it hit the middle of his pad and probably hit the middle stump. I don't believe it would have missed but the hawk-eye declared it not out. Virat Kohli gave a strong reaction to it. Virat’s face said that he felt cheated and I too felt it was out. Things like these have happened earlier with DRS too," Ajmal said on his YouTube channel.
With South Africa resuming their innings on 101/2, needing another 111 to win with eight wickets in hand, it seems as if India’s dream of winning a Test series in South Africa could go up in smoke. However, Ajmal feels the match isn’t yet out of India’s hands entirely and if they can grab two early wickets, the visitors might have one foot inside the door.
“India’s dream is to win a Test series in South Africa, and although it seems unlikely, they can do it if the team is able to pick up couple of wickets quickly and not give the South Africa batsmen a chance to go after them. It is possible because the ball is seaming, swinging and bouncing. So the fast bowlers do have a chance,” added Ajmal.