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India veteran opener KL Rahul thanked Devdutt Padikkal after his quick thinking helped him survive a close LBW call during the first Test against Sri Lanka at Galle International Stadium in Galle.
KL Rahul was initially appeared convinced that he was out and had started walking back after the umpire raised his finger. However, Padikkal asked him to review the decision. Rahul eventually went for the DRS, and the decision was overturned.
The ball had hit Rahul’s pad in line, but ball-tracking showed that it would have gone over the top of the stumps.
Rahul’s reaction after the decision said it all. Clearly relieved, he walked towards Padikkal, gave him a big hug and then blew him a kiss through his helmet. The light-hearted moment between the two Indian batters quickly caught attention.
The incident came off the final delivery of the 11th over. Prabath Jayasuriya bowled an arm ball that moved into Rahul as he stepped forward. Rahul was beaten on the inside edge and the ball struck his back pad, leading to a loud appeal from Sri Lanka. The clip of incident went viral on social media, here is the video:
The umpire immediately raised his finger. Rahul looked ready to head back to the dressing room, but Padikkal’s intervention gave him one last chance.
The review showed that there was no contact with the bat. Although the ball had struck Rahul’s pad in line, the tracker showed it missing the stumps.
The Sri Lankan players were visibly disappointed, while Jayasuriya looked towards the big screen in disbelief.
Rahul, who was batting on 25 at the time, survived but could not make the most of the reprieve. He added only 10 more runs before Jayasuriya dismissed him.
Rahul came down the track to a fuller delivery outside off and tried to hit it over mid-on. However, the bat turned in his hands at the point of impact, taking the power away from the shot. The ball did not travel far enough and Rahul was dismissed.