Australian skipper Pat Cummins has come under fire for burning all of his reviews inside the first session on day two of the Second Test, including being “conned” by a second-gamer.
Fox Cricket’s Mike Hussey believed the Aussies were too “desperate” against India and “lost a bit of control” when they wasted all their review chances – leaving themselves with nothing should an umpiring howler come their way.
Cummins opted to send two puzzling decisions to the third umpire inside the first hour against India – both in a bid to send KL Rahul packing.
MATCH CENTRE: Stats, scorecards, commentary and more!
Watch Australia’s Tour of India. Every Test & ODI live & ad-break free during play on Kayo. New to Kayo? Start your free trial now >
Handscomb screamer digs a hole for India | 01:08
The second review in particular, off Cummins’ own attack, left commentators baffled as they weren’t sure if he was appealing for the LBW or a catch.
“It’s always very interesting for the captain,” commentator Ravi Shastri said.
“I guess it goes back to what (the review) was invented for in the first place, the really bad decisions … only the ones they are very sure about can they go for it.”
“Not having enough reviews and Australian cricket is a sordid story isn’t it?” Harsha Bhogle added.
“It goes back to the Ashes, goes back to Tim Paine.”
With just one review left, Cummins was labelled “gun-shy” as he opted against reviewing a tight LBW call on milestone man Cheteshwar Pujara – and left the crowd cheering when replays showed the batsman would have been sent packing.
“It would have been a hope review which they’ve done now twice,” commentator Matthew Hayden said.
“It’s a confidence thing isn’t it, the review process.
“Taken a couple earlier, wasted them.
“If they had not taken those reviews earlier, they most certainly would have gone up for that.”
It took a passionate Alex Carey plea for Cummins to opt for the final review against Pujara (0) just five balls later – and it paid off as replays showed the impact was pad first.
“We’ve fluffed three already – three from three so we’re due to get the right result,” commentator Mark Waugh said.
“They’ve got the fourth review right the Australians. And they know it’s a big one, too.
“Pujara’s been a real rock and a wall to get past in previous Test matches.”
But Cummins’ luck eventually ran out inside the first session when he blew Australia’s final review when he was “conned” by second-gamer Todd Murphy into sending a catch to the third umpire.
“That review is done and dusted. One less thing for Pat Cummins to worry about,” Shastri said.
“You’d like a couple up your sleeve for the next 65 overs,” Waugh laughed.
“It just didn’t look right (the catch appeal) – there was a couple of players around the bat excited and a couple who weren‘t.
“I think Todd Murphy has conned Pat Cummins there.”
“Murphy was just so fired up, he was convinced… it’s almost like you say, ‘calm down, let’s think through this carefully’,” Hussey added at the break.
Hussey described the first botched review as “pretty ordinary” and labelled Cummins’ effort on the second “disappointing”.
“They were desperate to get early wickets and I think they probably lost a bit of control there,” he said.
“Maybe the mentality was just use them… if we get them wrong, so be it, we’ll move on.
“Would be nice to just have one just in the back pocket in case there is the howler there … especially if it’s a big wicket – someone like (Virat) Kohli.”
Former Australian Test captain Allan Border said maybe Cummins’ wasn’t the best man for the review call.
“You’ve got to take the emotion as much as you can out of it. Say (to the bowler) ‘you go and stand over there mate, and we’ll have a bit of a chat,,” he said.
“The keeper’s got to have a really strong view on it otherwise you’re going to get a lot of those (reviews) wrong.”
Commentator Brendan Julian agreed the Aussies had “butchered” their DRS chances.
“When everyone’s running at you going ‘yep, mate you’ve definitely got to take that on’, you’re very confident and they went upstairs,” he said.
“It’s a hard one – you always obviously rely on the umpire to get it right or wrong… but the DRS process is so important.”
