IND v AUS 2020, 3rd T20I: 'The umpire said nothing can be done' - Virat Kohli says LBW controversy could have been costly

India suffered a 12-run defeat against Australia in the final T20I of the 3-match series. The game had its ups and downs, and there was even a moment of controversy involved.

When Matthew Wade was on 50, a delivery from T Natarajan struck the Aussie opener on the pads. Umpire Rod Tucker ruled in favour of the batsman, and Indian skipper Virat Kohli attempted to review the LBW decision. The ball was going on to hit leg-stump, and the Men in Blue would've gotten a much-needed breakthrough.

However, the review was said to be ''null and void'' by third umpire Paul Wilson, as the big screen on the ground had already shown a replay of the incident before the 15-second time interval to take the review had elapsed.

Speaking about the incident after the match, Virat Kohli said:

''That LBW was a strange one because we were still discussing whether the ball was going down and within the 15-second timeframe, they showed the replay on screen.''

The 32-year-old further added:

''We decided to go for the review, but the umpire said they're showing the replay on the screen. I had a chat with Rod, asking what we can do in this situation and he said nothing can be done."

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'In a very important game, this could be very costly' - Virat Kohli

Virat Kohli at the post-match presentation

Virat Kohli iterated that such mistakes cannot be made at the highest level. He said:

''In a very important game, this could be very costly. It was a little bit of a miss from the TV guys upstairs and I'm sure that it's probably not going to be repeated. No one wants to be in a situation where you lose out on a very important moment in the game.''

The ICC rules clearly mention that players cannot get help directly or indirectly when they are asking for a referral. Law 3.2.4 (D) of the men's T20I playing conditions says:

"No replays, either at normal speed or slow motion, shall be shown on a big screen to spectators until the 15-second time limit allowed for requesting a Player Review has elapsed.''

It is clear that the big screen operators were at fault in this situation, and Wade made good use of the life. He went on to score 80 and guided Australia towards a total of 186, which proved to be too much for India in the end.