NEW DELHI: As Pakistan lost the second Test against Australia in Melbourne on Friday, the penultimate day of the match also had a pinch of controversy after
Mohammad Rizwan
was adjudged out caught behind after the ball hit his wristband.
The bizarre incident unfolded in the 61st over of Pakistan's second innings in their chase of 317 when Rizwan got himself into a tangle while ducking a Pat Cummins short delivery.
As the ball passed through Rizwan there was a sound and the Aussies went up for an appeal. As the on-field umpire turned down the appeal, it prompted Cummins to send it upstairs.
The third umpire Richard Illingworth then took several minutes and examined the incident from a number of different angles and was also aided by HotSpot and Snicko technology.
He eventually asked the on-field umpire to reverse the decision which took Rizwan by surprise.
"I've got a spike and a hotspot on the wristband. It's come off the wristband which is attached to the hand. I'm going to have to ask you to reverse your decision to OUT," Illingworth said.
Completely baffled by the decision, Rizwan then tried to have a word with the on-field umpires but eventually made his way back to the dressing room, mumbling at the decision.
After Pakistan's loss by 79 runs, coach Mohammad Hafeez also slammed technology, saying it was 'putting a curse' on cricket.
"We play this beautiful game of cricket on the basics of the game but sometimes the technology brings some decisions which obviously as a human we don't understand...," Hafeez told reporters after the defeat.
"He (Rizwan) is a very honest person and he said to me he did not even feel that it touched anywhere near the gloves.
"There should be conclusive evidence to reverse the decision of an umpire... and there was no very conclusive kind of evidence. Technology is basically putting the curse on this beautiful game of cricket."
The third and final Test of the series will be played at the Sydney Cricket Ground from January 3.
English (US) ·