On Shubman Gill Catch Controversy, Pat Cummins' "Best Umpire" Remark

Australia skipper Pat Cummins contradicted his counterpart Rohit Sharma's opinion on third umpire Richard Kettleborough, who gave the controversial decision of dismissal of India opener Shubman Gill during the second innings of the World Test Championship final. After India lost the match, Rohit had stated that the third umpire reached the conclusion a bit quickly and should have seen more replays before taking the call. He had even called out the WTC organisers for having fewer camera angles at such an important match.

Pacer Scott Boland found the edge of India's opener's bat and Cameron Green dove to his left in his preferred gully position to complete the catch. The decision was sent to the third umpire, where TV umpire Kettleborough declared Gill out.

Backing Kettleborough's decision, Cummins called him "probably the best umpire in the world" and stated that the catch taken by Cameron Green was a fair one.

"I thought it was a fair catch. Green was an absolute screamer and obviously we're just players. We're out on the field so we leave it in the umpire's hands and personally, probably the best umpire in the world, he knows the rule books, he's seen every angle. I'd probably back his decision more so than emotional, passionate fans that are looking on a big screen from 100 meters away," Cummins said during the post-match press conference.

Earlier, Rohit had said, "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."

"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.

This was India's second defeat in successive WTC finals after losing to New Zealand in 2021 in the inaugural edition.

Topics mentioned in this article

India Cricket Team Australia Cricket Team Pat Cummins Shubman Gill Rohit Sharma Cricket