Imagine putting real, record-breaking hard work into something and coming extremely close to winning, only to be left high and dry. All because of a legit loophole in the rules of the game! Now that’s exactly what happened at the India v Sri Lanka test match at Eden Gardens, Kolkata, today.
Captain Virat Kohli’s 50th international ton and Bhuvaneshwar Kumar and Mohammad Shami’s stellar wicket taking may have brought us within three runs of a victory. However, Sri Lanka screamed “bad light” and brought Day 5 of the first test match to a frustrating draw.
Apparently, there was a law passed a few years ago wherein if the umpires believed the lighting to be bad enough to suspend play, the batsmen would be given an option to continue playing or halt the game.
Fair choice; however, there were several instances of struggling teams using this tactic to suspend the game and avoid an inevitable loss.
In the light of this disappointment, Indian cricket fans on Twitter had a field day trolling Sri Lankan captain Dinesh Chandimal and the SL team for their perfectly timed complaint about the bad lighting.
1. That escalated quickly.
Andhere se kisko problem ho rahi hai?
Sri Lankans ko ya Indians ko 😛
— Godman Chikna (@Madan_Chikna) November 20, 2017
2. #DelhiSmog isn’t a phrase. It is an emotion.
Chandimal – It's too dark, we can't see anything
Kohli – Liar. Everything is visible
Chandimal – You are a Delhiite. You are habitual of seeing things in low light#INDvSL
— ansHU MOR (@anshuMor) November 20, 2017
3. Sri Lanka, kaafi umda khele aap!
Sri Lankan batsmen after every two minutes of batting. #IndvSL pic.twitter.com/lEc8TNl3hL
— Sagar (@sagarcasm) November 20, 2017
4. I still can’t understand, why are we not funding this?
Best way to avoid bad light.#INDvSL pic.twitter.com/sdvR0fJ3bl
— Krishna (@Atheist_Krishna) November 20, 2017
5. Black Black khel rahe hain?
Sri Lankan batsmen complaining about lights after being 75/7 needing 156 more to win. #IndvSL pic.twitter.com/FwDregtw6e
— The-Lying-Lama 2.0 (@KyaUkhaadLega) November 20, 2017
6. Looking for the ball like….
@chandi_17 Chandimal when SL’s 7th wicket fell. Be a strong captain.#INDvSL pic.twitter.com/AQGzWMjdbE
— warrior (@warrior_nijjar) November 20, 2017
7. Ball be like… Sri Lanka team, Now You See Me?
@chandi_17 chandimal when 7th wicket fell. I can’t see #INDvSL pic.twitter.com/DpEtbD9L6F
— warrior (@warrior_nijjar) November 20, 2017
8. And for us, it was difficult to not crack jokes!
For Sri Lankan batsmen it was difficult to see the ball, for Indians it was difficult to see Sri Lankan batsmen. 😔
Not being racist, sach mein nahi dikh rahe the.
— Godman Chikna (@Madan_Chikna) November 20, 2017
9. A bullseye despite the dark!
Light meter wins the match by three wickets. Welcome to the dark ages of cricket.#indvsl
— Gaurav Sethi (@BoredCricket) November 20, 2017
10. Someone suggested a rather ‘bright’ idea…
Needed more bright people on the ground. #INDvsSL
— g (@aammirite) November 20, 2017
… that was then turned into a (fair and) lovely joke!
https://twitter.com/BanarasiBasanti/status/932566116731199488
11. Ye bik gayi hai Team Sri Lanka!Â
Dark magic at work. Wonder if Chandimal will mention witchcraft in the press conference today #IndvsSL
— Ashish Magotra (@clutchplay) November 20, 2017
12. Our feelings in a nutshell!
"I wish someone used a hook to pull the sun up a little bit." – Mathew Hayden summarizes our sentiments perfectly.
What a pity that THIS enthralling test match had to end in a draw because of bad light. #INDvsSL
— Sohini (@Mittermaniac) November 20, 2017
For those wondering why floodlights weren’t used to continue play, blame the red balls used in test matches.
Their visibility is quite poor under floodlights as compared to white balls used during ODIs or the trendy new pink balls, which have been brought into use specially for day/night matches.
After what happened today, many Twitter users even questioned BCCI’s decision to not use the pink ball.
Good light or poor light, red ball or pink ball, the stats at the end of the say may call it a draw but Team India fans have already proclaimed this a home win.
Let’s hope we get a legit one in the next match against Sri Lanka in Nagpur!
Cover Image Courtesy: SLB Films