Australia captain Tim Paine was left frustrated with the Decision Review System (DRS) during their second test defeat to India in Melbourne, saying his contentious day three dismissal was wrong and might have cost his team the match.
Paine was caught behind for one off the bowling of Ravindra Jadeja, with the third umpire Paul Wilson judging he had edged the ball on faint evidence provided by the "Snicko" technology.
The wicket left Australia 99/6 and they were eventually bowled out for 200 by lunch on day four on Tuesday.
India then easily chased down 70 for victory after the lunch interval.
With India number three Cheteshwar Pujara reprieved on review in virtually identical circumstances on day two, the Australian skipper complained about what he thought was double standards.
"I thought we had a pretty similar example in the first innings with Pujara on which set some precedents. And then you could see the change," he told reporters, maintaining that he had never hit the ball.
"Extremely frustrating, no doubt about that. A crucial part of the game. I felt like I've been playing pretty well the start of this series.
"And I thought if I could get in a partnership with [Cameron] Green [and] add another 50, 100, 120 runs together then the whole game changes. To have it finish like that was extremely disappointing."
Paine said he had already sought clarification from match officials, but had not been satisfied by their response.
"I've spoken to them, it wasn't very productive," he said.
"My concern yesterday was not with the technology, it was with the precedents set with Pujara and the fact the [Paine] decision was made too quickly.
"He [Wilson] didn't look at enough replays to see all evidence. There was probably a gap between bat and ball.
"It was just lots of things that didn't marry up for me."
Paine had no complaints about a line-ball runout decision that went his way in Australia's first innings, however.
Scrambling for a single with all-rounder Green, Paine survived a lengthy review despite no clear evidence that his bat had crossed the line before the bails were whipped off.
The decision was decried by Indian fans, and former Australia spinner and TV commentator Shane Warne was among those who took to on social media saying Paine should have been out.
Reuters.
