India opener Shubman Gill's dismissal to a Cameron Green catch in the fourth innings of the ICC World Test Championship (WTC) 2023 Final sparked a massive debate.
In the final over before Tea break on Day 4, Gill edged the first delivery against Scott Boland and Green, who was stationed at gully, leaped to his left to hold onto an inconclusive catch.
The on-field umpires went upstairs to check for a clean catch. After watching the reply from multiple angles, TV umpire Richard Kettleborough came to a conclusion that Green’s fingers were underneath the ball and declared Gill out.
Kettleborough’s decision created quite a stir on social media, with many experts opining that Shubman was hard done by the third umpire.
After India’s defeat in the WTC final on Sunday (June 11), skipper Rohit Sharma also expressed his disappointment over the third umpire’s controversial decision.
Notably, cameras had captured Rohit arguing with the on-field umpires after Gill was given out.
"I just felt disappointed with - not enough. I mean, the third umpire should have seen a little more replays, a little more of, you know, how the catch has been held. I think it was three or four times he saw and he was convinced with it. It's not about whether it was given out or not out, you need to have proper and clear information about anything. It's just not about the catch, it can be about anything. That was, that is something that I was a little disappointed with - the decision was made quite quickly," Rohit said in the post-match press conference.
The Indian captain went on to say that the IPL has more camera angles than the WTC final while questioning the lack of ultra-motion or zoomed image before making the final decision to give Gill out.
"When a catch like that has been taken, you need to be more than 100% sure because it's a final and we were at that important stage of the game as well. So that was to me a little disappointing. And more camera angles should have been shown. There was only one or two camera angles that were shown. We've got more angles in IPL. We've got 10 different angles in IPL. I don't know why in a world event like this, there was no ultra motion that was seen or any kind of zoomed image was seen. That is what I was a little disappointed with," he added.
Coming to the WTC final, India succumbed to a humiliating 209-run defeat at the hands of Australia on Sunday.
The Rohit Sharma-led side was outplayed by Australia from the opening day itself. India opted to bowl first in overcast conditions but failed to make the most of it.
Australia rode on centuries from Travis Head (163) and Steve Smith (121) to pile up 469 in their first essay. In response, India’s innings folded for 296 as they conceded a healthy lead of 173 runs.
Australia declared their second innings at 270/8 to set a huge target of 444. However, Indian batting once again crumbled under pressure and got bowled out for 234 in the final innings.
