|
Australia's seasoned spinner Nathan Lyon gave his take on the mixup incident between Virat Kohli and Yashasvi Jaiswal, which led to the young opener being runout on Day 2 of the fourth Test of the Border-Gavaskar Trophy at the MCG.
In pursuit of Australia's imposing total of 474, India looked in control despite losing two early wickets, courtesy of the commanding presence of Kohli and Jaiswal. With India down at 51/2, Kohli and Jaiswal put on a batting masterclass with their elegant strokeplay. The Australian bowlers seemingly looked out of ideas, forcing captain Pat Cummins to adopt a defensive strategy. Even though there were ample runs on the board, Cummins decided to refrain from an aggressive approach against the duo. But all the momentum vanished into thin air in a single moment. Jaiswal drove the ball hard straight to Cummins and set off for a run. Kohli, watching the ball's trajectory, hesitated as Jaiswal continued to run from the other end. Cummins quickly assessed the situation and threw towards the striker's end but missed. Wicketkeeper Alex Carey, however, collected the ball and dislodged the bails, ending Jaiswal's promising 82-run knock and denying him a well-deserved century. "It was probably one of the best barbecues I've seen, to be honest with you. It came out of the blue. They were doing it pretty easy out there ... pressure does funny things. Silly run-outs are coach killers, aren't they? It was pretty special," Lyon said on ABC Radio after the play, as quoted from The Sydney Morning Herald. The incident left fans divided, with debates raging over who was at fault. Former cricketers Irfan Pathan and Sanjay Manjrekar expressed differing opinions during the post-day analysis. Lyon's compatriot, Steven Smith, shared his views on the incident and said in the post-day press conference, "It looks like Jaiswal called 'yes' and ran, but Virat sent him back. Simple as that. I didn't see much more than that. I was running in, pretty excited. It was a nice wicket. It was really a good partnership. Then getting two more wickets made it a huge last hour for us." Ravindra Jadeja brought the end of the day with a four which raised India to 164/5, trailing by 310 runs. (ANI)
|
