Amid Controversy Over Joe Root’s LBW, Ex-England Star Praises Rohit Sharma, R Ashwin For “Excellent Review”

Amid controversy over England batter Joe Root’s LBW dismissal in the second innings of the 4th Test, former Three Lions pacer Steven Finn praised India captain Rohit Sharma and spinner Ravichandran Ashwin for the taking crucial review.

This comes after former England captain Michael Vaughan had taken a swipe at the Hawkeye technology over Root’s dismissal. The incident happened on the 17th over when Ashwin’s delivery hit Root on the pads. While the umpire shook his head, Ashwin convinced Rohit to go for DRS.

The TV replay showed that the ball pitched on the leg-stump line and was going to hit the stumps. Vaughan vented his frustrations on social media over the dismissal.

However, Finn, who played 36 Tests for England between 2010 and 2016, thought that the Hawkeye got the decision spot on, pointing out the “drift” on Ashwin’s delivery.

“An excellent review. From the naked eye, to me, it looked like it pitched outside leg stump, but clearly the drift Ashwin gets means that Root had to depart,” Finn said on TNT Sports, the broadcasters for the ongoing series in the UK.

Finn added that Root’s wicket was a big one for India and Ashwin’s reaction justified it.

“You can see the passion from Ashwin’s celebration, which shows just what that wicket means to India. Crawley is playing well, but Root was the glue that the England middle order could have played around,” he added.

Ashwin took five wickets as India bowled England out for 145 on the third day of the fourth Test in Ranchi on Sunday, the hosts needing 192 to clinch the series.

Opener Zak Crawley top-scored with 60 but the rest of the England batting faltered against India’s spin, with Ashwin returning figures of 5-51 and Kuldeep Yadav 4-22.

Ashwin found an able ally in Kuldeep, who also took four wickets to bring India back into the contest.

England won the opening Test but India lead the five-match series 2-1.