India vs England: Ravindra Jadeja’s LBW dismissal in first Test sparks DRS controversy

India ended their first innings on 436 in response to England’s 246. Starting from an overnight score of 421 for 7, Ravindra Jadeja (87 off 180 balls) and Axar Patel (44) added 78 runs for the eighth wicket as India extended their lead to 190 runs. For England, Joe Root emerged as the standout performer, as he picked up four wickets for 79 runs, while Tom Hartley (2/131) and Rehan Ahmed (2/105) each chipped in with two wickets.

The pitch in Hyderabad has proved to be a great one for Test cricket where batters have scored runs with positive intent and bowlers have had to work hard for their wickets.

However, amidst all this, Ravindra Jadeja’s dismissal triggered quite a controversy. He was trapped in front of the stumps by Joe Root in the 120th over. As Jadeja lunged forward to defend the off-break, the ball hit his pads, leading the on-field umpire to declare him out.

Jadeja promptly reviewed, and the crowd erupted as the UltraEdge showed a spike between bat and pad. There was all the uncertainty around whether the ball hit the inside edge before the pad. However, the third umpire Marais Erasmus deemed there was not enough conclusive evidence to overturn the on field decision and Jadeja was sent back on his way.

Jadeja shook his head as he trudged off the field. The fans, however, remained skeptical about the umpire’s call and took to social media with their disagreements.

What happened to the good old “Benefit of the doubt goes to the Batsman” dictum?

Has ICC outlawed it in the DRS Era?

Ravindra Jadeja should never been Adjudged out.

(Pic Source: @cricbuzz ) pic.twitter.com/ZA2zxWU1Uq

— Vibhav / उर्मिलादेवनाथपुत्र विभव तिवारी (@vibhavarms) January 27, 2024

Jadeja that was brutally unlucky

Inside edge could not be determined
Umpire's call on line
Umpire's call on height

Basically DRS could not determine anything #INDvsENG

— Shreya (@shreyamatsharma) January 27, 2024

The worst DRS review when 3rd umpire can't make out whether it is bat or pad first for snickometer, benefit of doubt should be to batsman, followed by 2 umpires call on that Jadeja dismissal #INDvsENG

— Akhil Chaturvedi (@Akhil_C) January 27, 2024

With regards to controversial dismissal of Jadeja today, Hey @icc plz clarify how can a third umpire give a ruling on lbw when he cannot be sure that ball did NOT touch the bat where it was clearly showing nudge and went straightaway to next step without passing the first step?

— Venkatesh Naidu (@yknev47) January 27, 2024

Ravi Shastri who was on air at the time Jadeja’s dismissal said that if the on-field decision had gone in favour of the batter, Jadeja would have remained not-out.

After Jadeja’s departure, India did not add much and added just 15 runs to the overnight total. In their second innings, England were much better with the bat and their efforts were led by Ollie Pope who notched up his century and added 100 runs for the sixth wicket.