Ravichandran Ashwin was upset after replays showed three reds for an LBW appeal against Tom Latham for which India did not use DRS on Day 3 of the first Test.

Rahane’s men decided not to use the DRS

India missed a trick,” said former India captain Sunil Gavaskar after Ajinkya Rahane’s men decided not to use the DRS against Tom Latham in the morning session of Day 3 in the India-New Zealand first Test in Kanpur. Latham continued to enjoy a cordial relationship with DRS in this Test match. He was given out thrice – twice by Nitin Menon and once by Virender Sharma – by on-field umpires on Friday and on all three occasions. Latham straightaway opted for DRS and the decision had to be reversed. And on Saturday, when he was given not out on the field, India decided not to go for the DRS. Replays showed that he would have been out.

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An over later, replays showed three reds – the ball was pitching in line. The impact was straight and it was hitting the stumps. Ashwin was seen kicking the turf in frustration. While Rahane had a grimace on his face when big screens showed the replay.

Latham did not put a good stride:

The incident took place in the 73rd over of the New Zealand innings when Ashwin got one to turn from a fuller length. Latham did not put a good stride forward and the turn meant. The ball evaded the left-hander’s bat to brush his front pad and then hit the back leg. There was a huge appeal from Ashwin and all the close-in fielders but the umpire turned it down. Surprisingly India did not opt for the review.

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“India missed a trick. They should have gone for the review. Even if it was umpire’s call, they would have retained the review,” Gavaskar said during commentary.

India had two reviews in their bank during that time. Due to home umpires being used because of travel restrictions in the post-Covid era, teams now get three reviews every innings instead of two.

New Zealand went into lunch at 197 for 2. The second new ball did the trick for India at the stroke of lunch as Umesh Yadav pitched one online off-stump, which cut back enough to find Williamson’s pads just when he was showing signs of settling down having reached 18 off 64 balls.

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