India vs West Indies: Kieron Pollard reacts to Ravindra Jadeja's controversial run-out call by the on-field umpire

West Indies clinched the series opener as Kieron Pollard and Co delivered a strong batting performance to chase down a competitive total of 287 runs. Tons by Shai Hope and Shimron Hetmyer steered the Caribbean side to a comprehensive eight-wicket victory.

India, after put to bat first, relatively had a poor start as they lost their three prime batsmen in the initial overs. Cottrell was successful in dismissing the in-form duo of KL Rahul and Virat Kohli in the powerplay itself. Rohit Sharma was also shown the exit door by Alzarri Joseph.

In a crucial situation for the hosts, youngsters Shreyas Iyer and Rishabh Pant steadied India’s ship by smashing 70 and 71 respectively. The duo was assisted by Kedar Jadhav’s sensible knock of 40 runs off 35 balls. Jadhav was eventually joined by Ravindra Jadeja, who was rotating the strike and was keeping the scoreboard ticking by quick singles.

Kieron Pollard and Virat Kohli had contrasting reactions to the incident

However, the left-hander was run out by Roston Chase in the 48th over. Jadeja’s dismissal raised many eyebrows as he was initially not declared out by the on-field umpire. South African umpire Shaun George had already made up his mind as he skipped the option of involving the TV umpire.

But the TV replays suggested that Jadeja had failed to make the crease and several West Indies players including skippers of both sides- Kieron Pollard and Virat Kohli- were fuming at the umpire’s indecisiveness. On-field umpire Shaun George then went upstairs and his belated referral became a major talking point of the match.

Kohli and Pollard had contrasting comments on the incident. While the Indian skipper questioned the on-field umpire’s decision, Pollard had an opposite reaction to the umpire’s delayed referral.

“The thought is simple, the fielder asked ‘how is that’ and the umpire said ‘not out’. The dismissal ends there,” said Kohli post the match as quoted by TimesNow.”The people sitting on the TV outside cannot tell the fielders to then tell the umpire to review it again. I’ve never seen that happen in cricket,” he added.

Pollard, on the other hand, defended umpire’s late call and stated that the official made a right call at the end of the day. “At the end of the day, the right decision was made and that’s the most important thing for me,” Pollard said.

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