KL Rahul walked in to open for India in the Perth Test and appeared to be at the top of his game as he left the ball by moving the bat inside the line and playing watchfully.
Even as Yashasvi Jaiswal and Devdutt Padikkal fell for ducks and Virat Kohli left without scoring much, Rahul stood like a rock for India, playing the ball under his eyes and negotiating the trio of Aussie seamers with flair.
WATCH: Unlucky Virat Kohli undone by extra bounce from Josh Hazlewood, falls cheaply in Perth Test
It appeared as though Rahul had found his groove and would be India’s saviour in the first innings when he was sent back off Mitchell Starc’s bowling in the 23rd over, with the batter on 26 off 74 balls.
Rahul again played inside the line as the ball went close to the bat and an evident sound came up. The Aussies contemplated a review and took it eventually.
The replays and snicko showed up a spike, but with the bat hitting the pad and the ball going near the bat, there was confusion on what caused the spike. A side-by-side replay window showed the bat hitting the pads at the time at which the spike came up, but the ball was nowhere near the bat then.
The third umpire declared Rahul out much to India’s anger and the batter was evidently displeased with the decision, waving angrily at the umpire as he walked off for a well-made 26.
Australia: Nathan McSweeney, Usman Khawaja, Marnus Labuschagne, Steve Smith, Travis Head, Mitch Marsh, Alex Carey (wk), Pat Cummins (c), Mitchell Starc, Nathan Lyon, Josh Hazlewood
India: Yashasvi Jaiswal, KL Rahul, Devdutt Padikkal, Virat Kohli, Rishabh Pant (wk), Dhruv Jurel, Washington Sundar, Nitish Kumar Reddy, Harshit Rana, Jasprit Bumrah (c), Mohammed Siraj
