India cricket team captain Virat Kohli was left fuming when an on-field decision went against his side and said “these are decisions that can change the course of the game”. Debutant Suryakumar Yadav, who scored a quickfire half-century, was given out by English cricketer David Malan in the deep. While it was not clear whether the low catch by Malan was a clean take, the TV official did uphold the on-field umprire’s ‘soft signal’ of out due to conclusive proof.

Even though India registered a series-levelling win against England, Kohli was left unimpressed with the umpires.

The catch remained the talking point as pundits debated Malan’s effort.

“How can this be out,” cricketer-turned-commentator VVS Laxman wrote on Twitter with a still of Malan taking the catch.

“When you are not sure whether the ball was taken cleanly after watching so many replays using top class technology and still go by the soft signal given by the on-field umpire. I think this rule needs to be revisited and changed,” Laxman said.

Former England captain Michael Vaughan said the catch was clean but the ‘soft signal’ in cricket needs to be looked at.

“I thought Dawid Malan took that catch,” Vaughan said.

“Once that soft signal had been given out, he (on-field umpire) had to give it out because he did not have enough evidence to prove that he hadn’t caught it. I just don’t like the soft signal in the middle for catches on the boundary.”

Earlier, Kohli said on-field umpires should have the option to stay neutral in a TV referral.

“When there’s a half-and-half effort the soft signal becomes more important. I don’t know why there can’t be an ‘I don’t know’ call for the umpires,” Kohli said.

“These are decisions that can change the course of the game, especially in these big games. We were on the receiving side today, and tomorrow it could be some other team.

“You want these ironed out and keep the game really simple and linear. It isn’t ideal in high pressure games and we want a lot of clarity on the field.”

Suryakumar, who was named man of the match for his 31-ball blitz, said he had no problems with the call and he took the decision in his stride.

Indian bowlers stifled England batsmen to 177-8 in their chase of 186 to level the five-match series at 2-2.