WTC Final 2023: Cameron Green's controversial Shubman Gill catch, Carey-Starc stand and more talking points
WTC Final 2023: Cameron Green's controversial Shubman Gill catch, Carey-Starc stand and more talking points
There’s the possibility of every outcome as the World Test Championship (WTC) final between India and Australia at The Oval enters its fifth and final day. Needing 444 runs to win, India, at 164/3, find themselves in a cautious position with Virat Kohli (44*) and Ajinkya Rahane (20*) unbeaten.
Day four produced a lot of defining moments, including a Cameron Green catch that got the cricketing fraternity talking.
Let’s now take a look at what transpired in the build-up towards that catch, and more as we take a look at some talking points from Day 4:
Cameron Green’s controversial catch
Cameron Green’s controversial catch to dismiss Shubman Gill in India’s run-chase was a major talking point on Day 4 and it did not go well with the Indian fans.
The incident happened during the eighth over of India’s run chase, when Gill, looking to get forward in defence, instead got an edge off the bat and jabbed it towards Green at gully. Green displayed his sharp reflexes, making a diving effort to his left to seemingly complete a one-handed stunner. However, despite the dismissal, Gill stood his ground and the on-field umpires decided to take it to the third umpire, Richard Kettleborough. Kettleborough looked at various angles of the dismissal. The replays showed Green’s index and middle fingers under the ball, but there was no conclusive evidence to show if Green had avoided contact with the grass.
After looking at the replays, Kettleborough concluded that Green’s fingers were in fact “underneath the ball” and that the decision stood in favour of the Aussies.
So much so that there were even chants of ‘Cheat, cheat, cheat’ towards Green were heard when he came out to bowl after the incident.
It was only recently that the ICC planned to do away with ‘soft signal’, where the on-field umpire would give a hint of what the verdict of the TV umpire would be. The soft signal rule was done away with from the ICC Playing Conditions with effect from 1 June, 2023. The new rules first fell into place during England’s one-off Test against Ireland at Lord’s.
“33.2.1 A catch will be fair only if, in every case either the ball, at any time or any fielder in contact with the ball, is not grounded beyond the boundary before the catch is completed,” states the MCC law regarding catches.
“33.2.2 Furthermore, a catch will be fair if any of the following conditions applies:
“33.2.2.1 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,” it adds.
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