'Poor third-umpiring, India deserved that wicket' - Twitter reacts after Ross Taylor survives close stumping call against R Ashwin

The first Test match between India and New Zealand sits at an intriguing position. The Kiwis are all determined to chase down the total whereas India is giving it their all to clinch the remaining wickets to register a victory. In what has been an eventful affair so far, something that has caught the attention of the on-lookers is the stumping decision.

R Ashwin brought some momentum towards India after sending back the set batter Tom Latham. However, it further seemed as if he has given the hosts yet another breakthrough but the third umpire wasn’t quite convinced with it. The off-spinner bowled a fuller delivery to Taylor down the leg side, which the batter tried to flick, but the ball was away from him and Srikar Bharat grabbed it behind the stumps.

The keeper took off the bails and that is when the decision went upstairs. Initially, it appeared that Taylor’s back foot had touched the ground even before the ball reached Bharat. However, what amused the netizens is something that happened in just a fraction of a second. After the keeper had taken the charge of the ball, it seemed that he waited with his glove right next to the stumps for the foot to go up again.

To add to everybody’s surprise, it looked that when Bharat dislodged the bails, Taylor’s back foot had gone up for a brief while. Seeing the replays, the crowd was all cheering but the third umpire wasn’t too convinced to call it out. It was a very close call wherein quite a few on-lookers felt that it should have been given out.

Here is how Twitter reacted:

Bharat too quick for the stumping lmao

— Kunal Tolani 🏏 (@Kunal_jt) November 29, 2021

Super stumping just miss 💔#KSD #IndiaVsNewZealand

— లీల కృష్ణ సుంకర (బి పాజిటివ్) (@sunkaraleela) November 29, 2021

@RossLTaylor YOU ARE CLEARLY OUT. Poor third umpiring . India deserved that stumping . #INDvsNZTestSeries #indvsnz pic.twitter.com/NrbBPUYgbd

— ajinkya patil (@ajinkyahawa1999) November 29, 2021

Bharat bhaiui itna tez stumping bhi nhi krna tha 😂

— ARYAN (@TheAryanBansal) November 29, 2021

Taylor very lucky to survive the stumping. Good call by the third umpire, benefit to the batter. #INDvNZ

— Brad Hogg (@Brad_Hogg) November 29, 2021

That stumping from Bharat took me back to the stumping from Ms Dhoni in 2016 T20 WC against Bangladesh definitely the feet had moved could've looked few more times!!!#IndianCricketTeam #IndiaVsNewZealand #INDvsNZ #Ashwin #ksbharat

— Sujith V (@Sujith1727) November 29, 2021

It looked like out. Didn't it?! The Ross Taylor stumping. #INDvsNZTestSeries

— Shanmugapriyan (@Shanmuga00007) November 29, 2021

Sir , can you explain why Ross Taylor(stumping) was NOTOUT? #INDvsNZ

— Anand (@lamethought21) November 29, 2021

About the match, India was in a spot of bother on day four after having lost a couple of early wickets. But then debutant Shreyas Iyer displayed his flair and hit an impressive half-century. He stitched in some important partnerships in the middle to hold the fort of the side.

The batter scored 65 runs whereas keeper-batter Wriddhiman Saha remained not out on 61. Ravi Ashwin and Axar Patel also played a fine cameo to help the team put up a respectable total as India declared at 234-7.