Picture Credit: BCCI/Twitter
The first Test between India and England produced a thrilling first session of cricket on Day 1 at Trent Bridge. As the hosts went to lunch at a score of 61/2 in 25 overs, the contest looked quite evenly balanced after the first two hours of play on Wednesday. From a scintillating new-ball spell by Bumrah and Shami to some lovely strokes by England batsmen, it was an entertaining session of red-ball cricket for the fans.
However, the talking point of the session was once again Indian skipper Virat Kohli. The 32-year-old had quite a busy morning in Nottingham as he used the four-seamers to his disposal quote diligently. He was on point with his decision making until he took a horrendous review after being convinced by Rishabh Pant.
Interesting sequence of events at Trent Bridge
The Indian captain has often been criticized for taking unnecessary reviews in past. An example of the same was on display once again at Trent Bridge when Mohammed Siraj's delivery struck the knee roll of Zak Crawley and went into the hands of the wicketkeeper. Kohli and Co. looked pretty confident and after getting a nod from Pant, India decided to take the review. However, replays confirmed that the ball had missed the bat by quite some distance.
Just three deliveries later, a very similar incident happened once again. The ball seemed to have struck Crawley's thigh pad this time around before getting to the gloves of Pant. Indian players looked far less confident and wasting another review at that point would have been horrific for the visitors. Interestingly, Rishabh Pant was very confident once again as he begged Kohli to listen to him and take the review.
Pant urges Kohli to take review
The Indian captain was very reluctant to opt for DRS as India had only 2 reviews left in the innings. With only 21 overs bowled at that time, not taking a review looked like the wise call. However, Pant continued to urge Kohli to take the risk and the 32-year-old showed trust in his teammate once again and surprisingly signalled towards the umpire to take the review.
The trust reaped benefits as the replays confirmed that the ball had taken an inside edge before striking the thigh pads, confirming that Pant was correct. The on-field umpire had to reverse his decision as India got the all-important breakthrough just a few minutes before lunch.
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There was a huge sense of relief when the replays were showed on the big screen as Kohli and Co. erupted with joy. Although the wicket went to Siraj, equal credits need to be given to Pant and Kohli for taking the referral when no one else on the field looked really confident about the same.