Plays of the Day from the third day of the second Test between India and Australia in Hyderabad.
Brydon Coverdale04-Mar-2013Mystery review of the day
Every day of this non-DRS Test has provided an umpire review of a catch. But none was as baffling as the one that ended Sachin Tendulkar’s innings on seven. James Pattinson bowled down the leg side and appealed confidently for a caught-behind. The standing umpire Marais Erasmus appeared at first to rule it not out. After further enquiry from Pattinson, Erasmus seemed to have a change of heart. He consulted the square-leg umpire and sent the decision upstairs. Under ICC playing conditions, Erasmus could only do this to check that the catch carried, meaning he was convinced Tendulkar had edged the ball, despite him initially appearing to make a not-out judgment. The third umpire checked the replay and confirmed that the ball had carried to Matthew Wade, but also spent a long while looking at ball passing bat. It appeared Tendulkar had edged the ball – later backed up by Snicko, which the umpires cannot use – and he was given out. The right decision was made, but it felt like the umpires had exploited a loophole in the system to reach it.On-field catch of the day
Ed Cowan hasn’t taken everything that has come his way in this series but he snaffled a ripping catch at backward short-leg to get rid of Virat Kohli. Glenn Maxwell got one to dip and turn and Kohli came at him, trying to clip the ball towards leg. It looked set to fly past Cowan until he thrust his left hand out and snared a terrific catch that brought Maxwell his fourth wicket and Australia their ninth.Off-field catch of the day
When David Warner came down the wicket to R Ashwin and lofted him over long-on, it was always going to be a crowd catch for somebody. But who should be in position to take it? None other than Merv Hughes, the former fast bowler and a national selector until 2010, who is in India leading an Australian tour group. Hughes took the catch easily and lobbed it back onto the field. The TV cameras soon returned to Hughes and his Test tally of 23 catches flashed up on the screen. It didn’t tick over to 24.Three of the day
In an innings of 503 it seems remarkable that that there would be only one occasion when the batsmen ran through for three off the bat. But while the Indians scored 106 singles, 38 twos, 69 fours and four sixes, the only three came when MS Dhoni flicked the ball wide of square leg off the bowling of Peter Siddle.
