India vs Australia: Was Virat Kohli Out Or Not Out Off Matthew Kuhnemann? Sunil Gavaskar Gives His Verdict

The second day of the second India-Australia Test in the Border-Gavaskar Trophy in Delhi saw a controversial moment when Virat Kohli was given out LBW while he was on 44. The former India captain looked solid while wickets kept on falling at the other end, but off Test debutant Matthew Kuhnemann's left-arm spin, Kohli was given out. The bone of contention was whether the ball had hit the bat first or the pads. The on-field umpire gave him out and Kohli went for a DRS. 

Replays showed that the bat and pad were too close to each other at the time of impact. Ultra Edge even detected a spike when the ball was close to the bat. The ball-tracker showed umpire's call - as the ball was clipping leg stump. However, the replays were not conclusive enough to overturn the on-field umpire's decision. Hence, Kohli had to depart leaving India reeling. 

After the day's play, Gavaskar gave his take on the decision. "I thought it was out because if the ball had not hit the bat, because he had been hit on the inside part of the front leg...The ball even if it had turned marginally towards the off-stump, it would have hit the leg-stump. If it would have hit him on the outside part of the left leg, then it would have probably missed the leg-stump. The only question at that particular point of time was where was the impact, whether the ball hit the bat first. Because the bat and pad were so close to each other. It was umpire's call which in my view what the decision was," Gavaskar said on Star Sports.

After Kohli's dismissal, a 114-run partnership bailed India out of trouble in the first innings  with the team conceding just one run lead to Australia.

At the end of second day, Australia had scored 61 runs with the loss of one wicket in their second innings, taking their lead to 62 runs with nine wickets in hand. Head scored 39 of 40 balls while Labuschagne remained unbeaten on 16.

Topics mentioned in this article

India Cricket Team Virat Kohli Matthew Kuhnemann Australia Cricket Team India vs Australia, 2023 Cricket