R. Ashwin takes a cheeky dig at Ben Stokes over umpire’s call after Mitchell Marsh’s dismissal against NZ

Ashwin and Ben Stokes. (Photo Source – Twitter/X)

Australia registered a thrilling three-wicket win over New Zealand on Day 4 of the second Test on Monday, March 11 at Hagley Oval, Christchurch. Chasing a target of 279 in the fourth innings, Australia were reduced to 80/5 before Mitchell Marsh (80 off 102) and Alex Carey (98* off 123) bailed their team out of trouble with their massive stand of 140 (174).

However, New Zealand managed to claw their way back into the game as Ben Sears managed to break the massive partnership by trapping Marsh in front of the stumps. The all-rounder felt hard done by the umpire’s decision and opted for a review and ball-tracking found the ball clipping the leg stump on replays. Hence, Marsh had to make his way back to the pavilion due to ‘umpire’s call’ on hitting.

Following the incident, India off-spinner Ravichandran Ashwin took a cheeky dig at England captain Ben Stokes who had criticised umpire’s call during the recent five-match Test series against India. Taking to his X account, Ashwin mentioned that the game is heading to a nail-biting finish due to umpire’s call.

Also Read: ‘Pretty happy I didn’t have to face another ball’ – Alex Carey comments on missed ton in Christchurch Test

“An umpire’s call to push this test to a nail-biting finish. #AUSVNZ Some support from England to Australia for ✔️,” wrote Ashwin on his X account.

Notably, Stokes had stated that England has been on the wrong side of umpire’s call during the five-match series against India. England opener Zak Crawley was controversially given out during the fourth innings of the Visakhapatnam and Rajkot Test. In Visakhapatnam, the ball tracking reversed the on-field decision of not out against Crawley as ball-tracking surprisingly showed the ball hitting the stumps.

Later in Rajkot, Crawley was once again subjected to a controversial DRS call as the ball tracking showed the ball missing the stumps but the result came as ‘umpire’s call’. After the game, Stokes had a chat with the Match Referee who revealed that the technology showed the wrong image but did the correct calculation.

We’ve been on the wrong end of three umpire’s calls: Ben Stokes

“We’ve been on the wrong end of three umpire’s calls this game and that is part of DRS. You’re either on the right side or the wrong side. Unfortunately, we’ve been on the wrong side. I’m not saying and never will say that’s the reason why we’ve lost this game, because 500 is a lot of runs. It is not something you pin down to result of the game. Sometimes when you are on the wrong end of those decisions it hurts but that is part of the game. You want them to go your way, sometimes they do, sometimes they don’t,” Stokes had said after the game.

Also Read: IND vs ENG: Why was Zak Crawley given out LBW despite the ball missing the stumps on DRS?

Meanwhile, India sealed the series by 4-1 after winning the fifth Test in Dharamsala by an innings and 64 runs. The Rohit Sharma-led side made a brilliant comeback in the series after being 0-1 down after a loss in the series opener in Hyderabad and went on to win the remaining four games to top the WTC (World Test Championship) points table.