India vs Australia: Virat Kohli given LBW in Controversial circumstances, Should he have been given Not Out?

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India are in deep trouble against Australia in the second Test in Delhi. In reply to Australia's 263 in the first inning, the hosts are tottering at 140/7 and have found themselves in hot waters.

India were in deep trouble at Lunch as they lost 4 wickets in the first session on Saturday. KL Rahul, Rohit Sharma, Cheteshwar Pujara and Shreyas Iyer all fell to Nathan Lyon's magic as India were 88/4 at Lunch.

But Virat Kohli was still at the crease. The Indian talisman steadied the ship and played with precision throughout the latter stage of the first session. And after lunch, he broke his shackles and started playing some decent shots. But unfortunately, Kohli departed for 44, under controversial circumstances.

Kohli LBW decision:

Virat Kohli was caught by debutant Matthew Kuhnemann and was given out by the on-field umpire Nitin Menon. He took the DRS and the replay showed the ball was adjacent to both his bat and pad. The third umpire took a long time but ended up deciding the ball hit Kohli's pad first, thus giving him out after the ball tracker showed the ball was going to hit the stumps.

The Indian batter was seemingly distraught and even the commentators indulged in the debate of whether the ball met the bat or pad first.

Virat Kohli given OUT in Controversial Fashion:

The whole debate rises from the replay which quite clearly showed the ball had hit the bat and pad together. There was neither any conclusive evidence that the ball had struck the bat first, nor it could say whether Kohli's legs shattered first.

But as the on-field call was Out, the third umpire didn't overrule the decision as the replay couldn't determine any clear and obvious error.

MCC Law Fuels Kohli Controversy:

The debate is fuelled even more as the MCC Law 36 says if the ball hits the bat and pad at the same time, connection with the bat is considered and the batsman is deemed Not Out. The third umpire didn't exercise the option in Kohli's case and gave the batter Out.

It was a great moment though for the Australian debutant Matthew Kuhnemann, who had Kohli as his first International wicket. Kuhnemann, the left-arm spinner was flown in after the 1st Test and got straight into the team.