'No way that ball was missing the stumps, he was out' - Saeed Ajmal opens up on Dean Elgar DRS drama

Former Pakistan spinner Saeed Ajmal has given his verdict on the Dean Elgar DRS drama, stating he felt the South Africa skipper was undoubtedly out. Elgar survived a close lbw shout on the third day of the Cape Town Test against India when he had the on-field umpire’s decision overturned.

Elgar was rapped on the pads by Ravichandran Ashwin in the 21st over, and while it appeared he was struck rather plumb, the ball-tracking technology reckoned otherwise, leading to plenty of raised eyebrows and reactions by the Indian players, who alleged the host broadcaster, SuperSport, for foul play.

After the decision was overturned, a visibly annoyed Virat Kohli walked up to the stump mic and said: “Focus on your team while they shine the ball. Not just the opposition. Trying to catch people all the time.”

Moments later, the mic caught KL Rahul saying: “It’s the whole country against 11 guys”, while Ashwin, who was denied the wicket, said: “You should find better ways to win, SuperSport.” Not just the Indian players but even umpire Marias Erasmus, who had given the original decision, was heard saying, “That is impossible”.

Opening up on the episode, Ajmal reckoned that given where the ball had hit Elgar on the pads, it could not have missed the stumps in any way whatsoever.

“I’ve watched the Dean Elgar review a few times today. There is no way that the ball was going over the stumps. The ball hit him on the knee-roll and he was out,” he was quoted by Saj Sadiq on Twitter.

Saeed Ajmal "I've watched the Dean Elgar review a few times today. There is no way that the ball was going over the stumps. The ball hit him on the knee-roll and he was out" #SAvsIND #Cricket

— Saj Sadiq (@SajSadiqCricket) January 13, 2022

Paras Mhambrey, India’s bowling coach, said during the day-end press conference: “We saw it, you saw it. I’ll leave that for the match referee to have a look at it. There’s nothing I can comment on it now. We’ve seen it all, just want to move on with the game now.”

While nearly everyone has agreed with how the dismissal should have turned out, many have questioned the on-field conduct of Indian players.

“There was an insinuation from the Indian camp that the host broadcasters were up to some mischief to make sure they were putting their own team at an advantage. That is a serious kind of insinuation. I have a problem with that,” Manjrekar said in an interaction with ESPNcricinfo.