South Africa vs India: Proteas fast bowler Lungi Ngidi has said that India’s angry reaction and their subsequent rant at the broadcasters through the stump mic showed that they were feeling the pressure at the time.
The Indian players made their frustration known in the stump mic. (Reuters Photo)
HIGHLIGHTS
- Virat Kohli was heard on stump mic ranting about an overturned LBW decision
- Kohli, KL Rahul and R Ashwin deliberately passed comments into the stump mic
- Elgar was given not out by the third umpire, leaving India miffed
The Indian players’ rant into the stump mic after an LBW decision against South Africa captain Dean Elgar was reversed showed that they were under pressure, Proteas fast bowler Lungi Ngidi has said. India were left miffed after Elgar was allowed to stay on via DRS with replays showing that the ball would have gone on to miss the stumps.
Even on-field umpire Marais Erasmus, who had little hesitation in giving out after the Indians appealed, could be heard saying “that’s impossible” as he reversed his decision. India captain Virat Kohli, spinner Ravichandran Ashwin, who was denied the wicket, and vice-captain KL Rahul then made their frustration audible on the stump mic.
“Reactions like that show a bit of frustration and sometimes teams capitalise on that. You never want to show so much emotion, but we could see emotions were high. That tells us they are feeling a little bit of pressure,” Ngidi told reporters after the end of the day’s play.
“That was a good partnership for us and they really wanted to break it. Those feelings ended up showing there. Everyone reacts differently and what we saw there was what those guys were feeling at the time,” he said.
“You should find better ways to win Supersport,” Ashwin said, taking a dig at the host broadcasters while Rahul said “the whole country is playing against eleven guys.”
Kohli walked up to the stumps and said: “Focus on your team as well and not just the opposition. Always trying to catch people”. Kohli was making a reference to the 2018 Cape Town ball tampering scandal, in which it was the host broadcasters’ camera that first picked up visuals of Australia’s Cameron Bancroft using and hiding sandpaper.
Elgar did not stay around for much longer after the incident, however, with Jasprit Bumrah dismissing him off what was the last ball of the day eight overs later. Elgar put up a partnership of 78 runs with Keegan Petersen which brought South Africa within 111 runs of the target at Stumps.
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