“When fingers split and come downwards, the ball will touch the grass” - Shastri, Gavaskar not convinced with Green’s catch being declared 'clean'
Former Indian cricketers Sunil Gavaskar and Ravi Shastri disagreed with the third umpire’s decision to adjudge Shubman Gill caught by Cameron Green at gully on Day 4 of the World Test Championship (WTC) final. According to both, there was no conclusive evidence to prove that the Australian fielder had completed the catch cleanly.
Green’s catch to dismiss Gill was one of the big talking points on Day 4 of the WTC final between India and Australia at The Oval on Saturday. After India were set 444 for victory, Gill and skipper Rohit Sharma added a brisk 41 for the opening wicket in seven overs.
Gill, however, jabbed at the first ball of the eighth over from Aussie pacer Scott Boland. The edge flew towards gully, where Green pounced to his left and claimed a low one-handed catch. The Indian opener stood his ground, but third umpire Richard Kettleborough gave him the marching orders after watching the replays.
Discussing the controversial dismissal, Shastri told Star Sports that the way Green ‘completed’ the catch, it was impossible for the ball to not touch the grass.
He explained:
“If I look at what was shown, then one has to give it out because it seems like fingers are underneath the ball. But one thing needs to be remembered, and this happened with [Virat] Kohli as well in Perth when [Marnus] Labuschagne had taken the catch. When the fingers split and come downwards, the ball will definitely touch the grass.
“If three fingers are together and then the angle is shown, then there are chances of the hand being underneath the ball. But, as you can see, the fingers were split,” he pointed out.
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Chipping in with his views, Gavaskar added that if the ball is touching the ground, there is no way the batter should be given out.
He opined:
“When you land after taking a catch and if the ball is touching the ground during the process, then it is not out. People say that the catch was completed when the fielder held the ball. But no, the catch is completely when you stand straight [after taking the catch]."
“If you say that this catch has been completed, then when a fielder goes beyond the boundary after completing a catch, why is it called a six?” he added.
A few minutes after the end of the day’s play on Saturday, Gill posted an image of Green’s catch on Twitter with a cryptic caption that included the 'facepalm' emoji.
What Green had to say about the catch to dismiss Gill
Speaking at a press conference, Green stated that he had taken the catch cleanly, adding that the third umpire also backed him.
"Yeah, I think at the time I definitely thought I caught it. I think in the heat of the moment, I thought it was clean and threw it up and obviously showed no sign of any doubt basically. And then it's left up to the third umpire and he agreed, so yeah," he said.
Following Gill’s dismissal, India also lost Rohit (43) and Cheteshwar Pujara (27). They ended the day at 164/3, needing a further 280 runs for a win on Day 5.