Yashasvi Jaiswal’s caught-behind dismissal sparks controversy

PTI, Dec 30, 2024, 12:39 PM IST

Yashasvi Jaiswal (pti)

Melbourne: India opener Yashasvi Jaiswal’s contentious dismissal sparked a controversy on the final day of the fourth Test against Australia here on Monday, as third umpire Saikat Sharfuddoula ruled him out despite no edge being registered on the Snicko.

Jaiswal, who was batting on 84, miscued a hook off pacer Pat Cummins’ short-pitched, down the leg delivery, and the batter was initially given not out by on-field umpire Joel Wilson after Australia appealed for a caught-behind dismissal.

However, upon review, third umpire Saikat adjudged that there was a deflection off Jaiswal’s gloves/bat based on the visual evidence.

Saikat overruled the Snicko, which showed no spike, leading to chants of “cheater, cheater” around the Melbourne Cricket Ground.

Jaiswal was ousted after playing a solid 84 off 208 deliveries.

At one stage, he seemed to steer India to a draw before the visitors lost wickets in clusters in their chase of 340, eventually going down by 184 runs.

The left-hander argued with the on-field umpires over the decision before walking back.

“In my view the decision was out. The third umpire did make the correct decision in the end,” Former ICC Elite Panel umpire Simon Taufel told Channel 7.

“With the technology protocols, we do have a hierarchy of redundancy and when the umpire sees a clear deflection off the bat there is no need to go any further and use any other form of technology to prove the case.

“The clear deflection is conclusive evidence. In this particular case what we have seen from the third umpire, is they’ve used a secondary form of technology, which for whatever reason hasn’t shown the same conclusive evidence of audio to back up the clear deflection.

“In the end the third umpire did the right thing and went back to the clear deflection and overturned the umpire field. So, in my view correct decision made,” he added.

This incident follows a similar controversy in the opening Test in Perth, where opener KL Rahul’s dismissal sparked a debate.

After on-field umpire Richard Kettleborough had ruled in Rahul’s favour following Australia’s appeal, the home team used DRS to challenge the decision.

Third umpire Richard Illingworth had overturned the call despite not having the benefit of a split-screen view which would have given him a clearer picture of whether the Mitchell Starc delivery actually grazed the bat or the snicko responded to a hit on the pads.