The dismissal of India’s star opener Shubman Gill on Day 4 of the World Test Championship (WTC) 2023 Final against Australia has caused a stir debate among cricket enthusiasts and former players. There is widespread disbelief surrounding the legitimacy of Cameron Green‘s catch, with many raising questions about whether it was indeed a lawful catch.
The incident took place when a well-set Shubman, who was in a good batting rhythm and had scored 18 runs, faced Scott Bolland in his fourth over. Bolland bowled a delivery around the fifth stump line which caught the edge of Gill’s bat and traveled towards Green stationed at gully. Although the Aussie all-rounder successfully completed the catch, subsequent replays cast doubt on whether the ball had made contact with the ground.
The umpires referred the catch to the third umpire, Richard Kettleborough, to assess its legitimacy. After reviewing the evidence, Kettleborough seemed convinced that it was a clean catch. However, from certain camera angles, it appeared as though the ball had grazed the grass, despite Green’s fingers being positioned directly beneath it.
The verdict did not go down well with Gill as he went back to the dressing room in frustration. After the end of fourth day’s play, Gill expressed his dissatisfaction as he shared the photo of the catch taken by Green on his Instagram stories, using a ‘clap’ emoji as a sarcastic comment. Subsequently, the Indian star took to Twitter and posted the same photo accompanied by two ‘lens’ emojis and one ‘facepalm’ emoji.
🔎🔎🤦🏻♂️ pic.twitter.com/pOnHYfgb6L
— Shubman Gill (@ShubmanGill) June 10, 2023
Following Gill’s dismissal, India faced the setbacks of losing Rohit Sharma and Cheteshwar Pujara. However, the team displayed a positive approach, with senior batters Virat Kohli and Ajinkya Rahane joining forces to construct a solid partnership of 71 runs for the fourth wicket. Kohli contributed 44 runs, while Rahane remained unbeaten on 20 as the day concluded, with India reaching a score of 164/3. India still need 280 more to win the summit clash.
