'What the F@&* is this? This is a joke!' - Cricketers 'baffled' over KL Rahul's controversial DRS dismissal in Perth

Senior batter KL Rahul departed for 26 runs in the first Test against Australia in Perth. The 32-year-old looked in good touch early on and was slowly building a partnership with Rishabh Pant before a controversial decision sent him back to the pavilion. In the 23rd over, the Bengaluru-born cricketer was beaten by a short-pitch delivery but even upon a strong appeal from the Australian cricketers, the on-field umpire ruled him not-out.

Australian players were then seen having a conversation about using their second DRS even though Mitchell Starc did not look convinced. However, captain Pat Cummins decided to go upstairs. Interestingly, there was a spike in the Snicko metre when the ball was close to the bat. However, the third umpire didn’t opt for other angles and looked at it from the angle behind the stumps.

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It didn’t result in a clear understanding as Rahul was convinced that the ball missed his bat. Instead, his bat went on to hit his pads and that resulted in the noise in the Snicko. The third umpire nevertheless didn’t ask for other angles and reversed the decision of the on-field umpire despite not having conclusive evidence. Rahul was left frustrated as he walked out of the ground. With Rahul’s dismissal, India were reduced to 47/4.

Earlier, Opener Yashavi Jaiswal and the returning Devdutt Padikkal failed to open their tally while Virat Kohli departed for five runs as Starc and Josh Hazlewood picked up two wickets each. Rishabh Pant has a massive responsibility now to bail the visitors out of trouble while Dhruv Jurel has an opportunity to establish his authority in the middle. Meanwhile, India registered 51/4 until Lunch on Day 1.

Here's what former cricketers said: