cricket

Updated: Sep 10, 2018 11:12 IST

Reviewing decisions hasn’t been India skipper Virat Kohli’s strongest points on the cricket field. Kohli has been seen to waste reviews time and again in Test cricket when it is pretty much clear that the decision will stay with that of the on-field umpire. It was again the case in England’s second innings at the Oval Test on Sunday. In a matter of 12 overs, India had managed to waste both the reviews.

This prompted formed England skipper Michael Vaughan to tag him the worst reviewer in the world. Taking to Twitter, Vaughan wrote: “Virat is the best Batsman in the World .. #Fact .. Virat is the worst reviewer in the World .. #Fact #ENGvsIND”

Virat is the best Batsman in the World .. #Fact .. Virat is the worst reviewer in the World .. #Fact #ENGvsIND — Michael Vaughan (@MichaelVaughan) September 9, 2018

India wasted the first review in the 10th over of the innings when Ravindra Jadeja hit Keaton Jennings on the pads and there was a huge shout for a leg-before decision. It was pretty clear that the impact was outside the off-stump, but Kohli went ahead with the review and the decision stayed with the on-field umpire. The challenge was poor because Jennings had gone across by a fair margin to play the sweep.

The second review was wasted in the 12th over and once again, Jadeja was the bowler. This time, the batsman was Alastair Cook. Once again, what surprised all was India going for a review when the point of impact was clearly outside the off-stump. It almost looked like Jadeja pleading for a wicket made Kohli go for the DRS.

With just two wickets down, losing the reviews within the first 12 overs could well come back to haunt the Indians. In fact, when it comes to the shorter format, it is generally former skipper MS Dhoni who takes a call on whether a decision should be reviewed or not.