The event occurred on the sixth delivery of the 119th over, when the Australian team appealed for a catch at slips.
The drama unfolded during the initial moments of the fourth day of the Boxing Day Test match when Australia were still searching for the final wicket. The event occurred on the sixth delivery of the 119th over, when the Australian team appealed for a catch at slips.
Pat Cummins bowled a yorker delivery, angling across Mohammed Siraj, who wanted to play it out but could only get an outside edge. The ball flew straight to Steve Smith at the second slip, and the Aussies thought they had got the batter out, but the on-field umpire went upstairs to check whether it hit the surface before going into Smith’s hands.
As the third umpire checked the replays, he immediately concluded that the ball had bounced before the catch, deeming it not out. However, Cummins was unsatisfied with the decision and asked for a review, challenging it.
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But the umpire had to explain that the TV umpire had already checked the replays, and there was nothing more to see, so they couldn’t retake the review. Even though the Aussie team was unhappy with the decision, they couldn’t do anything but continue with the game.
Former Australian wicketkeeper batter Adam Gilchrist and Ravi Shastri were on air when this chaos unfolded, and they couldn’t believe it. Both were convinced that the ball went straight into Smith’s hands and Siraj was out.
“This is very interesting. I have never seen this before. He is saying, ‘You, as umpires, took it upstairs on your own behalf, but I want to review the decision.’ I do think it needs to be looked at very closely,” exclaimed Gilchrist.
Indeed, it was a close call, and the umpire had to make a tough decision, but the fact that he took the call so quickly was bizarre. He could have seen it from more angles before coming to a conclusion.
The decision didn’t cost Australia much as Nathan Lyon dismissed Nitish Kumar Reddy three balls later. However, such hasty decisions are never wise when the replays are inconclusive; this has happened before in the series.
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