"Neither you, me nor anyone else can see the ball touching the grass" - Aakash Chopra on Shubman Gill's controversial dismissal in the WTC final
Aakash Chopra feels the third umpire cannot be blamed for ruling Shubman Gill out in India's second innings of the World Test Championship (WTC) final as it was not evident that the ball touched the grass.
Gill scored 18 runs as India ended Day 4 at The Oval in London on Saturday (June 10) at 164/3 in pursuit of a 444-run fourth-innings target. The third umpire ruled the opening batter out in slightly controversial circumstances, with the pictures unclear on whether the ball touched the grass when Cameron Green plucked a sensational one-handed catch in the slip cordon.
Reflecting on the dismissal in a video shared on his YouTube channel, Chopra pointed out that it is an assumption that the ball would have touched the ground, elaborating:
"There were discussions about Shubman Gill's dismissal. It will happen repeatedly and I feel it will happen for eternity. A lot of people have tagged me and sent pictures saying that there was a gap between the fingers."
The former Indian opener added:
"If there is a gap between the fingers and the ball is between the fingers, the ball would have touched the grass - now this is an assumption. Neither you, me nor anyone else can see the ball touching the grass in that picture."
On the flip side, Harbhajan Singh and Deep Dasgupta, who were commentating on Star Sports, believe that Gill should not have been given out. While the former Indian spinner highlighted that the ball had to touch the ground considering the gap between the fingers, the latter pointed out that the pictures were clear that Green's middle finger was not underneath the ball when the catch was taken.
"If you are Indian fans, you will say it was 100% not out" - Aakash Chopra
Aakash Chopra highlighted that Indian fans will feel that Shubman Gill was given out wrongly:
"The obvious thinking is that it would have touched the grass as the ball wouldn't have got stuck between the two fingers, some part would have touched the grass. With that assumption, if you are Indian fans, you will say it was 100% not out."
The cricketer-turned-commentator added that the third umpire and the Australian players will have a contrary view:
"If you are an ICC umpire, you will say that you cannot assume what you have not seen, and that he will give it out or not out based on what he sees. He didn't see clear-cut evidence to give it not out and Australians will also say the same thing."
Chopra concluded by stating that the case will always remain 50-50 when the decisions are made based on two-dimensional pictures and that your nationality will sway your views. He added that unless the ball is seen touching the ground, the umpire cannot give it not out based on assumptions.