Afghanistan head coach Richard Pybus on Sunday conceded his team was exceptionally “rusty” in terms of taking correct DRS calls, as there was a singular lack of conviction even when there were clear nicks from the Indian batters. KL Rahul on the opening day, and Rishabh Pant on the second day, had edged one each to wicketkeeper Afsar Zazai who didn’t bother appealing. In the case of Indian skipper Shubman Gill, keeper Zazai’s reluctance didn’t help as TV replays showed that Azmat Omarzai had trapped him plumb in front of the wickets.
“We were exceptionally rusty. It wasn’t clear, without throwing anybody under the bus, I think there was a lack of conviction in decision making, and at the end of the day the skipper’s got a very short period of time to make those decisions in, and he’s reliant on that feedback. We chatted about it afterwards because we were obviously way off the pace with that, and it cost us,” Pybus said at the end of the day’s play.
“I think the captain is absolutely reliant, and he has got a couple of guys that he is speaking to for the decision making process. He has got the wicketkeeper, who has to give him his alignment, he has got a pointer who needs to give him height, and he is reliant on the bowler as well in terms of what the bowler is seeing in front of him,” Pybus added.
Pybus was, however, sympathetic with the on-field umpires Ibne Saikat and Richard Illingworth.
“With regard to the umpiring, I know from my experience of being a director of cricket how rigorous the review of the umpiring is, and how the decision making process is reviewed by the ICC.
“There is no wriggle room for the umpires. When they make a mistake, every single decision is reviewed. The umpire will get feedback on that. I have absolutely no doubt that the umpire is doing the best that he can, so he’ll get feedback,” Pybus added.
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