India vs South Africa, 1st Test: Controversial Mayank Agarwal dismissal spurs ball-tracking debate | Cricket News – Times of India

Did Mayank Agarwal’s LBW decision look like ‘umpire’s call’ to the naked eye? Didn’t it? Lungi Ngidi’s delivery seamed back in sharply from slightly back of a length, striking the batter high on the pads. To umpire Marais Erasmus and everyone watching on TV, it seemed the ball would be missing leg stump.
Dean Elgar appealed but even the replays looked like it was a no-brainer. Enter ball-tracking, after an interminable wait, and suddenly the projected path seemed to caress the outside of leg stump. Umpire’s call, right? Or was more than half the ball hitting the top of leg?

Erasmus seemed flummoxed when asked to reverse his decision by the TV umpire, and a distraught Agarwal left shaking his head, his promising innings having been cruelly cut short. The decision created a furore on social media, with many putting up screenshots of the dismissal to justify that the ball-tracking had been “suspicious”.

At the end of the day, Agarwal still seemed sore and made it clear he didn’t like the decision. “I’m not allowed to express my opinions on it,” he said, feigning a smile. “Unless I want to be in the bad books and get my money docked.”
Lungi Ngidi was more forthcoming, even though he too was stuck on ‘umpire’s call’. “I felt it was a good shout,” he said. “If anything I felt it would be umpire’s call. One thing, though, I thought it kept a bit low compared to the bounce I was getting. When it started taking a while (for the ball-tracking to come on), everyone started doubting themselves.”
With the umpires unavailable to comment, this seems one decision which will continue to polarise. Keep an eye on the ball-tracking on Day 2!
‘Dravid stressed on discipline’
Agarwal was more forthcoming on what new coach Rahul Dravid had to say to the batters before the Test. “The conversations with Dravid were about being very disciplined. He was clear that when you are playing in SA, you will not look very good but it is about sticking to your plan and waiting for opportunities,” said Agarwal.
“We were thinking around those lines. The plan was to leave as many balls as possible and I am glad that we could do just that. We really applied ourselves really well. We got good partnerships and I hope they continue going on in the match.”
For Agarwal, the highlight of his Karnataka teammate Rahul’s century was his discipline. “As someone who has been watching him closely, he really understands where his off stump his. He is willing to get in the line of the ball. KL is very disciplined with his gameplan and mindset. He is looking to bat through whenever he gets set.”
Agarwal said India would be eyeing a 400-plus total, while Ngidi felt the pitch still had its best left to offer to the bowlers. “There are still balls jagging off the deck. If you can get two wickets in two balls, anything can happen. If we get a couple of early breakthroughs it could turn the game on its head. Anything under 350 and it’s game on,” Ngidi said.
Sri Lanka, incidentally, managed 396 in the first innings in Centurion last December and still lost by an innings!