Virat Kohli had some early fortune going his way when a close catch call went in his favour on the first morning of the Sydney Test.
Kohli walked out to bat at No.4 with India losing both openers, KL Rahul and Yashasvi Jaiswal, for 17 after having chosen to bat. Facing Scott Boland first up in the eighth over of the innings, Kohli edged a rising back of length ball to second slip, where Steve Smith dived low to his right to parry it up to the gully fielder from inches off the ground.
Marnus Labuschagne completed the catch at gully as the Australians celebrated. But after a relatively lengthy umpire's review, TV umpire Joel Wilson adjudged in Kohli's favour, reasoning that the ball had rolled along the surface as Smith was picking it up off the ground.
"He's got his fingers (underneath) here but it's rolled onto the ground," Wilson was heard saying during the review.
Smith was visibly upset at the decision, shaking his head as he went back to his mark after the call was made. In the commentary box, Mark Nicholas felt that the issue was with the two-dimensional projection of three-dimensional visuals, which makes it difficult to judge close catches like these in the fielding side's favour.
