Hardik Pandya’s wife Natasa Stankovic reacts to his controversial dismissal in 1st ODI vs New Zealand

India won the first ODI vs New Zealand after a stirring contest on January 18, Wednesday by a margin of 12 runs as the Black Caps failed to reach the 350-run target. The Men in Blue batter Shubman Gill stood up for the team with the bat with his fighting 208, given that the other batters were struggling to get their timings right. 

While Michael Bracewell’s spine-tingling 140 during the chase was another takeaway from the game, Hardik Pandya’s dismissal turned out to be the most controversial one of all with fans claiming that Daryl Mitchell was lucky to get the allrounder’s wicket despite the ball seeming to have not hit the bails. 

Taking cognizance of the same, Pandya’s wife Natasa Stankovic expressed her displeasure over the dismissal on her Instagram account. “There was no bat involved, wasn’t bowled out. So how’s this out?” she wrote in her story as she questioned the decision being ruled in favour of the Kiwis. 

Here is Natasa Stankovic’s Instagram story: 

IND vs NZ 1st ODI 2023: Natasa Stankovic reacts to Hardik Pandya’s controversial dismissal (Image Source: Twitter)

To add more, the incident happened in the fourth ball of the 40th over, when Pandya tried to defend a straight ball off Mitchell. Along the course, when keeper Tom Latham caught the ball, one of the bails got dislodged and the decision was sent upstairs. Much to the surprise of the fans, Pandya was given out despite an inch gap being seen between the ball and the bails. 

Ravi Shastri reacts to Hardik Pandya’s dismissal during live commentary

Former team India head coach Ravi Shastri, who was doing commentary, said on air that Mitchell should be happy with the decision as there was no contact between the ball and the bails. The former Indian cricketer pointed out that there was a gap between the ball and the bails, saying that Pandya was robbed off during the game against the Black Caps on Wednesday. 

“Should really be happy, because that, if you take a look again as to where the keeper’s gloves are, where the ball is as it passes the stumps, it looked as if the ball was at least an inch, inch-and-a-half above the stumps … ball clearly looks to be above the bail. You can see as it goes past into the gloves, there’s no red light, it’s only after that. There you go. From that angle you can see that the gloves are closer to the bails than the ball,” Shastri was quoted as saying on air.