(Reuters) – Virat Kohli was left fuming when a new method applied to the ball tracking technology ruled him out on a full toss delivery that he thought went above his waist in Sunday’s loss at Kolkata Knight Riders.
The Royal Challengers Bangalore opener had scored 18 runs from seven balls chasing Kolkata’s total of 222-6 before his dismissal, as his team went on to lose the Indian Premier League (IPL) game by just one run.
Kohli had stepped out to hammer Harshit Rana’s high full toss but ended up playing it back to the bowler who caught it. The umpire signalled for a review to check whether the ball was too high to be a legal delivery.
While the ball was Kohli’s waist when he played it, the tracker showed it dipping before it reached the crease. The ball’s estimated height in the crease was then compared to the height of the batter’s waist measured beforehand.
The ball’s projected height was found to be lower than Kohli’s waist, leading to the third umpire ruling him out. The former India captain was unhappy with the call and he let the on-field umpire know that before walking out.
“Virat and myself at that stage thought that possibly the ball was higher than his waist,” Bangalore captain Faf du Plessis, who was at the non-striker end, said.
“In those situations, you’ll always have one team that’s happy and one team that doesn’t feel like it’s quite the right decision. But that’s just how the game works.”
Bangalore are bottom of the IPL table after losing six matches straight. They visit Sunrisers Hyderabad on Thursday.
(Reporting by Chiranjit Ojha in Bengaluru)