IND vs AUS: Drama! Drama! Drama! At the Sydney Cricket Ground, the immense drama in this Border-Gavaskar Trophy continues from Perth, Brisbane, and MCG, and now finally the ultimate test at SCG has much more under its belt.
The high-tension moment at the SCG that took every player and every Indian fan on their feet was when Steve Smith appealed for a catch in the slip cordon when Virat Kohli, the great, survived a golden duck.
After the two Indian openers were back in the hut, Scott Boland, who got India’s second wicket in the 8th over of the game, or probably his first over, marked Kohli’s arrival on the field. Boland seemed ready for the veteran as his ball angled in towards the batter’s body, thus daring to fly off Kohli’s outside edge.
Australia seemed very strategic in their bowling spells as they manipulated and implemented their plans perfectly against every batsman. When Kohli’s edge on his very first delivery flew off to the second slip, Steve Smith dived to his right and scooped it in a remarkable fashion as the ball dipped lower; the catch was eventually caught at the gully by Labuschagne.
The Australians started celebrating; however, replays revealed the ball brushed the ground before Smith scooped it, a minute detail spotted by TV Umpire Joel Wilson, as Kohli was declared not out by him.
While this drama unfolded, skipper Rohit Sharma was in the dressing room when he leapt, was on his feet, and took a seat only after Kohli was ruled out.
Experts opined on the appeal made over Kohli’s wicket for a golden duck
“From what I have seen there, that makes it more obvious to me that I should have been out. Steve Smith had his fingers underneath the ball, and you could see he was flicking the ball up; it was brilliant what he did,” Justin Langer said on 7 Cricket.
Former skipper Ricky Ponting agreed, saying, “He had his fingers under the ball; he flicked it up deliberately, and in my opinion, that’s out.”
Except for the great Sir Allan Border, every Australian has their opinion in favour of Steve Smith, while some also have their own theories. Sir Border remained in considerable doubt and said, “Those ones look so close, it’s hard to tell.”.
While Indian batter Sanjay Manjrekar and former all-rounder Irfan Pathan have opined that Joel Wilson was right in making his decision in favour of Virat Kohli, considerable doubt on such occasions should favour the batter.
Steven Smith at the stroke of lunch clearly reverted that he 100% had the fingers under the ball; otherwise, he could not have scooped it up; however, he silenced himself, thus implying an agreement to the decision made by the field umpires.
