If it wasn't for Axar Patel and whole lot of luck, Dinesh Karthik would have been the cynosure of the third and final T20I match between India and Australia, not for an act of heroism, but for an act of blunder. It happened during the 3rd T20I match of the series in Hyderabad on Sunday where either side are aiming for a series win after India blanked Australia's lead after a fiery performance in the rain-hit Nagpur game earlier this week. (India vs Australia Live Score 3rd T20I)
It happened in the eighth over of the game after India put Australia to bat first in the series decider. Yuzvendra Chahal dished out a slower delivery down the leg and Maxwell swivelled across on the pull as the ball lobbed behind square. He quickly took off for a second and hesitantly returned for another although his partner, Steve Smith was pretty sure. Axar, meanwhile, collected the ball comfortably collected the ball and fired it down to the striker's end and castled down the stumps. But there remained a doubt over whether Maxwell had reached in time.
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The replay however showed a different story. Maxwell was certainly well short of reaching the crease when the stumps were rattled by Axar's direct throw, but it seemed that wicketkeeper Karthik had already disturbed the stumps before being hit by the stumps. The third umpire took a closer look at the dismissal. Karthik was certainly guilty of that blunder, but was left very fortunate as his act had only dislodged one bail. The other bail was well in place and was only dislodged when the ball hit it.
{{/usCountry}}The replay however showed a different story. Maxwell was certainly well short of reaching the crease when the stumps were rattled by Axar's direct throw, but it seemed that wicketkeeper Karthik had already disturbed the stumps before being hit by the stumps. The third umpire took a closer look at the dismissal. Karthik was certainly guilty of that blunder, but was left very fortunate as his act had only dislodged one bail. The other bail was well in place and was only dislodged when the ball hit it.
{{/usCountry}}A few deliveries later, when the replay of the reactions of Indian players were shown during that dismissal, captain Rohit was seen visibly livid at Karthik's act but burst into laughter after the 37-year-old survived it and it eventually led to an unexpected reaction from the skipper.
Well, according to law 29.1 of MCC, pertaining to 'Wicket put down', "If one bail is off, it shall be sufficient for the purpose of putting the wicket down to remove the remaining bail or to strike or pull any of the three stumps out of the ground, in any of the ways stated in 29.1."