EXPLAINED: Virat Kohli Out or Not Out? ICC's Rule Proves Nitin Menon's Blunder - Check

Former India captain Virat Kohli was playing a gem of an innings in the first innings of the second Test against Australia at his hometown stadium in Arun Jaitley Stadium, Delhi on Saturday. He scored 44 runs in 88 balls with the help of four boundaries. He was looking in full control but just when he was about to complete his fifty an unfortunate event took place. Kohli's dismissal may be considered controversial by many as he was given out LBW. However, he immediately reviewed the decision, believing that the ball had hit the edge of his bat. The Ultra Edge technology, however, revealed a spike indicating that the ball had made contact with both the bat and pad.

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Current mood Why Nitin ? Why ? #ViratKohli_ #ViratKohli #virat #kohli #virat #indvsaus #ausvsind #indvaus #nitinmenon #menon #BGT23 pic.twitter.com/PGX5nJ0SKc

— India Fantasy (@india_fantasy) February 18, 2023

It was a challenging decision for the third umpire, and despite Kohli's hopes, the initial out decision was upheld. With every replay, the Indian captain and his fans saw their hopes fading away. The ball-tracking showed that the ball had grazed the stumps, and Nitin Menon stuck to his original decision, leaving Kohli and his supporters in disbelief. Matthew Kuhnemann, the second debutant in the series, claimed Kohli's wicket after Todd Murphy dismissed him in the first Test, making it a prized scalp for the Australian side.

Why Virat Kohli was given out?

According to the rules, If there is no conclusive evidence to overturn the decision given by the on-field umpire, the third umpire must stay with the decision of the on-field umpire. Thus when Virat Kohli was given out by on-field umpire Nitin Menon, then the third umpire had no other option but to stay with Nitin's decision as there was not conclusive evidence to overturn the decision.

What does the ICC Law state?

According to the ICC LBW law, 36.2.2 states that if the ball makes contact with the striker’s person and bat simultaneously, this shall be considered as the ball having first touched the bat. As could be seen with Kohli's dismissal, the ball made contact with the bat and pad and was not clearly evident with what it made contact with at first. The dismissal is sure to dominate the post-session talk as well as social media and could be a turning point in the Indian innings. Kohli's wicket left the floodgates open for the Australian spinners to fish with the Indian tail on a pitch thats provided fiesty turn.