Former India batter Virender Sehwag has slammed umpires working in ICC World Test Championship 2021-2023 final at The Oval for a debatable decision which led to the dismissal of Shubman Gill (18). If truth be told, Sehwag’s rant was targeted particularly against third umpire Richard Kettleborough and not on-field umpires Chris Gaffaney and Richard Illingworth.
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A decision which has resulted in a divided cricketing fraternity has added much-needed chatter to the fourth innings of a grand finale. It all happened on the first delivery of the eighth over when Australia fast bowler Scott Boland outdid Gill with extra bounce on a ball. Wanting to defend a ball outside the off-stump, the right-handed batter ended up edging it towards Cameron Green at gully.
With the ball traveling quickly to his left, Green was agile enough to grab what looked like a one-handed stunner initially. Gill, who stood his ground, was waiting for Kettleborough’s decision as the the proceedings were too quick for the on-field umpires to make a decision.
While Kettleborough could have explored more angles, he decided to signal “Out” taking into consideration how “fingers were under the ball” at the time of the catch. Having said that, Indian fans are claiming that the ball touched the ground after Green’s hand turned to complete the catch.
Virender Sehwag Slams WTC Final Umpires 2023 After Shubman Gill Given Out Today
Part of the Indian fans who reckon that Gill shouldn’t have been given out, Sehwag was quick to find faults with Kettleborough’s decision. “Inconclusive evidence. When in doubt, it’s Not Out,” read Sehwag’s tweet which also consisted of an image of a blindfolded man.
With the ICC (International Cricket Council) scrapping the dubious “Soft Signal” rule, perhaps the third umpire was in no doubt with respect to the decision. A major reason why both experts and fans are doubting Kettleborough’s decision is because they were expecting for the benefit of doubt to be given to the batter as used to be the case before the soft signal era.
Furthermore, as far as fans are concerned, viral screenshots aren’t the best of ways to search evidence in such cases as the real-time scenario wasn’t a 2D image but a 3D video. Among those tightest decisions for an umpire, ramifications of the same mostly depend on the team one is supporting.
As per MCC’s Law 33.2.2, a catch is considered fair even if a the hand holding the ball is touching the ground (like Green, in this case). “The ball is held in the hand or hands of a fielder, even if the hand holding the ball is touching the ground, or is hugged to the body, or lodges in the external protective equipment worn by a fielder, or lodges accidentally in a fielder’s clothing,” reads the law.
