India won the Bengaluru Test by 75 runs to level the series but the DRS controversy between Virat Kohli and Steve Smith left things in a bad way.
Smith had looked towards the dressing room for approval on being given out as to whether he should go for a review or not. Eventually he walked off, but not before Kohli asked the umpires to intervene.
AFP
According to Kohli, the Aussies had been doing it quite a bit when they would turn to the dressing room to go for the review or not and the man had had quite enough!
Now the ICC stepped in when the BCCI and Cricket Australia got into a tussle. Both Smith and Kohli have been let off but who is the man at fault here? Kohli stopped just short of calling them cheats and he is right from his point of view. But how wrong was Smith?
AFP
Now the law clearly states that the batsman has 30 seconds to decide if he wants to take a review. During that period he usually consults his partner or takes a call himself. Nonetheless no hard and fast rule bars him from actually looking at the dressing room as long it is within the time frame.
So was Smith cheating? Not in the true sense of the term. The main reason for this misunderstanding is that neither of the captains knew what the rule really was. Unless and until some clear-cut guidelines are given as to where a batsman can look when asking ?for a review, such controversies are bound to occur.
India till recently did not even want the DRS. Now that they have allowed it, this is just another problem that has cropped up. Hopefully it shall be dealt with accordingly.