Herschelle Gibbs speaks about controversial Umesh Yadav's catch
Umesh Yadav is having a torrid time in the ongoing Test match against England. The Indian fielders have dropped as many as 4 catches off his bowling so far. However, the Indian pacer did attract attention late on the first day when he took the catch of Joe Root and then fumbled with the ball even as he tried to throw the ball up in the air to celebrate. The ball slipped his grasp, but thankfully for the Indian team the third umpire deemed the ball to be under his control for long enough to declare Root out.
However, this sparked a controversy and the opinions of former players and experts were divided over the legality of the dismissal. Former England skipper Nasser Hussain was not convinced and said that Umesh and India got lucky with the dismissal.
On the other hand, Herschelle Gibbs, former South African player has supported the fast bowler and said that the ball was under his control for long enough. This catch evoked comparisons with the infamous drop of Steve Waugh by Gibbs himself during the 1999 World Cup.
"Mine happened quicker than Yadav's," Gibbs said after watching a clip of Yadav's catch as quoted by mid-day. "There's not much difference between Yadav's and my catch, but he held on to the ball slightly longer than I did. He actually had control of the ball and threw it in the air whereas I wanted to throw it up but dropped it. Mine eventuated in a not out, but Yadav's catch was valid. The umpires got it right both times."
On the 5th ball of the 80th over, Joe Root drove at a pitched up ball but ended up spooning a catch to Umesh who took the catch and then attempted to throw it up immediately, but the ball slipped out and fell behind him.
Root was not convinced and stood his ground. This forced the on-field umpires Kumar Dharamasena and Chris Gaffaney to refer the decision. The soft-signal was out and Rod Tucker took a look at several replays and decided to adjudge went upstairs to third umpire Rod Tucker to confirm the decision, though soft signal was out. After couple of replays Tucker decided to give it in India's favour.