'Fairly obvious there was an edge' - Former NZ captain on Virat Kohli's controversial dismissal in Mumbai Test

Virat Kohli returned to international cricket after India's T20 World Cup campaign on Friday morning (December 3). The 33-year-old was out of action from the India-New Zealand T20Is and Test series opener, however, took charge of the side for the second and final Test at Wankhede Stadium, Mumbai.

After winning the toss, Kohli came out to bat with India losing two quick wickets after an 80-run opening stand between Mayank Agarwal and Shubman Gill. As No. 3 batter Cheteshwar Pujara departed for a duck, the onus fell on Kohli and Mayank. Nonetheless, the superstar batsman's return to the 22-yard cricket strip turned out to be a nightmare as he fell for a 4-ball duck, his 10th as Indian captain, as he fell to spinner Ajaz Patel.

The dismissal was controversial as it went upstairs and the third umpire took a lot of time before giving the Indian skipper out. While it looked like there was a clear edge, Kohli was given out due to 'lack of evidence' that the ball hit the bat first. Hence, he was given out lbw.

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Many believe Kohli was wrongly given out as the ball hit the bat first and then the pad, ruling out the lbw scenario. Now, former NZ spinner-cum-captain Daniel Vettori opined on his dismissal. "It was fairly obvious that he nicked it. For me, it seems obvious that there was an inside edge although it was close. But for one man to sit there and a make a crucial decision, maybe the match referee could have stepped in,” Vettori said in a conversation with ESPNcricinfo.

On the other hand, former Indian opener Wasim Jaffer stated, "I can understand the on-field umpire making a decision. That can happen. But the third umpire making so many mistakes after seeing so many replays is disappointing. And Virender Sharma did have a very poor first Test and that form continues for him as well."

He also took to his official Twitter account and wrote, "That was bat first in my opinion. And I understand the ‘conclusive evidence’ part. But I think this was an instance where common sense should have prevailed. But as they say, common sense is not so common. Feel for Virat Kohli. #Unlucky #INDvNZ."

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After Kohli fell for a duck, Mayank's 120 not out took India to 221-4 at stumps on the opening day in the series decider in Mumbai. India will look to post anything over 350 and challenge the Kane Williamson-less Kiwis in the final Test.