India had mixed luck when they went in for Umpire Decision Review System (UDRS) referrals very early in their World Cup semifinal against Pakistan at the Punjab Cricket Association Stadium here Wednesday.
When opener Virender Sehwag was adjudged leg before to medium-pacer Riaz Wahab by Australian umpire Simon Taufel, the explosive batsman straightaway went up for a review without even consulting his partner Sachin Tendulkar at the other end. The referral went waste as TV umpire Billy Bowden upheld the decision as the ball had pitched in line with the stumps and was hitting the middle stump.
At 75/1, the other umpire, England's Ian Gould, ruled Tendulkar lbw to offspinner Saeed Ajmal. After discussing with Gautam Gambhir, Tendulkar successfully challenged the decision and the review showed the ball was going down the legside, missing the stump.
Tendulkar survived another vociferous appeal in the next ball, this time wicketkeeper Kamran Akmal whipping off the bails with the batsman lunging forward. Tendulkar's luck continued when he was dropped twice off skipper Shahid Afridi by the two senior most cricketers in the side, first by Misbah-Ul-Haq at short midwicket when he was on 27 and then by Younis Khan at short extracover when he was on 45.
Before the semifinal, India have gone in for eleven referrals and they could get only two decisions reversed.
Pakistan have questioned 19 umpiring decisions and only five were overturned. Afridi himself went in for seven leg before reviews, but only two were upheld. The Pakistanis got three other decisions in their favour.
Gould's record has been impressive as none of his six decisions were changed whereas Taufel had one of his seven decisions overruled by the TV umpire.
