India superstar Virat Kohli has been saved from a golden duck by an impossibly close call from the third umpire in the first hour of the SCG Test.
Kohli strode to the crease after just 40 minutes of play and looked to have nicked off first ball to Scott Boland when Steve Smith got a hand to the low ball at second slip, flicking it up to Marnus Labuschagne to complete what looked like a miraculous catch.
As the Australians sprinted into wild celebrations and Boland no doubt started dreaming of his plans for a hat-trick ball, umpire Sharfuddoula consulted fellow on-field official Michael Gough and they decided to send it to the third umpire.
As ever, the footage being reviewed by Joel Wilson was far from conclusive, with different angles supporting both sides of the argument and players from both teams on the field celebrating and lamenting accordingly as the process went on.
The ball went into Smith’s right hand cleanly as he dived low, but as he started to flick the ball up there appeared, from some angles, to be a hint of grass touching the ball for a frame or two as his thumb twisted the ball in his hand.
A few frames, from certain angles, suggested that maybe the ball brushed the grass. (Supplied: Channel Seven)
After a long deliberation, Wilson made his decision.
“He’s got his fingers [under it] but like it’s rolled onto the ground. I have that ball just touching the ground,” he said, with Kohli gleefully accepting the second life and kicking off all sorts of deliberations.
Smith was, unsurprisingly adamant, saying “That’s out, it stayed on my finger” as captain Pat Cummins approached the umpires for an explanation.
Former Australia fast bowler Glenn McGrath said on ABC Sport it was a 50/50 call but looked out to him.
“As cricketers we all think that’s out, the ball never really touched the ground,” he said.
“If I’m batting I’m probably happy to walk there, but I’m also happy [for him] to stay.”
Unlike in DRS calls, in catch reviews of this nature there is no “soft” signal on the field from umpires.
That means the third umpire has to make a definitive decision even if the footage is less than conclusive, which five-time ICC umpire of the year Simon Taufel said presented a “problem”.
“I can certainly understand what the third umpire’s done there. He believes he’s seen the ball on the ground and called it the way he’s seen it,” he said on Channel Seven.
“Normally the ICC protocol on fair catches is if you see the fingers underneath the ball, that’s good to maintain a fair catch.”
No-one could argue Smith lost control of the ball, but the issue is whether the ball grazed the ground, which has been the source of controversy many times in recent years.
“I think that’s out. I think his finger was underneath it,” Mark Waugh said on Fox, with former Australia captain Allan Border saying your opinion probably differs depending which team you support.
Former opener and Australia coach Justin Langer was adamant.
“His fingers were under the ball. Looked to me as if he was instinctively looking to flick the ball straight up,” he said on Seven.
“In my view the finger was still under the ball. That should have been a great catch for Australia.”
In an interesting twist, the Sharfuddoula-Wilson umpire combination was at the heart of the most controversial call in the MCG Test, when the roles were reversed and Sharfuddoula overturned Wilson’s on-field call to dismiss Yashasvi Jaiswal despite no spike on snicko as India collapsed in the last session.
