However, Rahul failed to continue the momentum during India’s second innings as he fell for just 8 off a Marco Jansen delivery. The dismissal, though, raised several eyebrows as Aiden Markram caught a low-catch and Rahul decided to stay in the middle, giving the impression that the catch wasn’t taken cleanly.
Both the on-field umpires then stepped in and decided to check it. The umpires went upstairs but also gave ‘out’ as the soft signal. The 2-D cameras showed some pictures, and from the naked eye, it appeared that the red cherry dipped just in front of Markram’s palms.
But, the third umpire was convinced that Markram’s fingers were underneath the ball and gave the decision in the fielding team’s favour. Rahul looked unhappy with the decision as he walked back, shaking his head in disbelief.
While the right-handed batter was leaving the field, he got involved in a heated exchange with South African skipper Dean Elgar. Both the captains exchanged words for a few seconds, with Rahul seeming to be suggesting his point of view while Elgar looked to be giving his take on the whole episode.
Here is the video:
Notably, a similar incident had happened earlier in the day when Rassie Van der Dussen was given caught behind by the on-field umpire right before lunch. Rishabh Pant had taken the catch, and few questions were raised on the authenticity of the catch.
The visitors, after suffering their first blow in the form of Rahul during the final session on Day 2, soon lost Mayank Agarwal for 23. However, the experienced duo of Cheteshwar Pujara (35 no) and Ajinkya Rahane (11 no) added an unbeaten 41-run stand to end the day at 85/2, helping India take a crucial lead of 58 runs.
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