Evidence: Shubman Gill falls prey to ‘stupid’ TV Umpire’s wrong decision in WTC Final

The TV Umpire said that he was hundred per cent convinced that Green had his fingers underneath the ball all the while and hence adjudged Gill out.

Evidence: Shubman Gill falls prey to ‘stupid’ TV Umpire’s wrong decision in WTC Final

Cameron Green takes sensational catch to dismiss Shubman Gill (Image via Twitter)

India batter Shubman Gill found himself on the opposite end of the luck spectrum on Saturday as the batter was wrongly adjudged out in the WTC Final by TV Umpire Richard Kettleborough. As an outside edge from Shubman Gill off Scott Boland flew towards the slip cordon, Cameron Green leapt to his left, put his left hand out and got in the way of the ball. 

Green got the hold of the ball with three fingers. However, his momentum made Green fall to the ground. Meanwhile, the Australian did not lose control over the ball. But as the reviews showed on the big screen, it looked like the ball touched the grass when Green was about to get back up. The zoomed-in images of the catch also suggested the same. 

However, Richard Kettleborough thought otherwise. The TV Umpire said that he was hundred per cent convinced that Green had his fingers underneath the ball all the while and hence adjudged Gill out. But Kettleborough failed to take into account some basic laws of Physics. Although Green had his big fingers underneath, there was very much possibility of the ball touching the grass on the ground, as shown in the image below. 

shubman gill controversial catch
Evidence that Cameron Green’s catch of Shubman Gill was unfair (Image via ICC Instagram)

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Were on-field umpires also convinced that Shubman Gill was out?

richard kettleborough
Richard Kettleborough (Image via ICC)

In such cases of close catch calls, the on-field umpires seek help from the TV umpire before making the final decision. But they were required to give a soft signal based on their real-time judgement. However, in this Shubman Gill case, there was no soft signal made and the decision was solely TV Umpire’s. 

This was because the International Cricket Council (ICC) recently scrapped the soft signal law stating that it creates confusion. “The on-field umpires will consult with the TV umpire before any decisions are taken,” the ICC confirmed when the changes were announced in May this year. 

So, if there was a soft signal here, the TV Umpire would have needed a piece of conclusive evidence to overturn the decision. However, with no such signal, the TV Umpire had to make this decision all by himself. Richard Kettleborough looked in a hurry while making the decision. The TV Umpire did not even ask for a zoomed-in angle which might have cleared the doubt. 

Also, Kettleborough did not give Gill the benefit of the doubt which batters get in such cases because he was too sure about the catch being clean.

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