World Cup 2023: 'Smith was given out...', Rizwan gets reprieve as fans question DRS accuracy

Pakistan's no. 4 batter Muhammad Rizwan had a lucky reprieve in the big-ticket encounter against India after the Decision Review System (DRS) came to his rescue. The reversal, however, ignited memories of Australia's Steve Smith being given out in one of the other World Cup matches when the ball seemingly looked like missing the stumps.

The incident transpired in the 14th over whenRavindra Jadeja came to bowl after Hardik Pandya sent Imam ul Haq back to the pavilion in the previous over. Relatively fresh at the crease, Mohammad Rizwan was bamboozled on the first ball as Jadeja extracted vicious turn off the Ahmedabad pitch.

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While the first ball turned away from Rizwan, Jadeja darted the next one straight on middle and leg. The Pakistani batter played down the wrong line and got trapped on the pads as the umpire raised the finger.

Adjudged out, Rizwan straightaway opted to take DRS. To the naked eye, it looked like the ball was kissing the top of leg, especially if one had seen the dismissal of Smith. However, DRS returned two reds and one green, meaning the wickets were missing, which left the Indian fields puzzled, especially Jadeja.

Soon after the decision, netizens shared their frustration with the inconsistencies surrounding the DRS.

"Rizwan’s LBW looked much closer than Steve Smith’s. But according to technology that was out and this isn’t. Well, we have to believe technology," said one user.

A second added: "Jadeja's delivery to Rizwan was carbon copy of Smith's in regards to the lbw..Jadeja's delivery missed the leg stump and Smith's was hitting leg stump that too not umpire's call..ridiculous. Smith was robbed due to a DRS glitch."

"The Rizwan lbw missing leg stump was equally flabbergasting as the Smith's one hitting leg," added a third.

Opportunity missed for India?

India won the toss and elected to bowl first on a pitch that appears to be excessively flat given the first 15 overs of play. India's strike bowlers Jasprit Bumrah and Mohammad Siraj could not extract any swing or seam initially with the latter getting plundered for plenty of runs.

Former Indian cricketer Akash Chopra in his assessment said India had missed an opportunity to 'out-bat' Pakistan by fielding first.

Playing XI:

India: Rohit Sharma(c), Shubman Gill, Virat Kohli, Shreyas Iyer, KL Rahul(w), Hardik Pandya, Ravindra Jadeja, Shardul Thakur, Kuldeep Yadav, Jasprit Bumrah, Mohammed Siraj

Pakistan(Playing XI): Abdullah Shafique, Imam-ul-Haq, Babar Azam(c), Mohammad Rizwan(w), Saud Shakeel, Iftikhar Ahmed, Shadab Khan, Mohammad Nawaz, Hasan Ali, Shaheen Afridi, Haris Rauf

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