EXPLAINED: Was Shubman Gill Wrongly Given Out In WTC 2023 Final? Here`s What MCC Law Says About Cameron Green`s Controversial Catch

Shubman Gill feels he was not out after a thick edge carried to Cameron Green in the slip cordon. The low catch looked stunning as a tall Green bent to his left to pluck it from inches above the ground. But was the catch grassed? Gill and most of India fans think so. What does the law say?

India opener Shubman Gill showed his frustration on social media after getting dismissed in a controversial manner in the second innings of the World Test Championship final (WTC 2023). A low catch from Cameron Green behind the stumps ended his innings. Gill and a billion more people back home feel he was wrongly adjudged out by third umpire Richard Kettleborough. It was yet another case of a cricket law being difficult to comprehend for the fans, especially for those who get carried away by the emotions. Gill posted some interesting Emojis on Instagram and Twitter with the screenshot of the catch, showing his frustration over the dismissal. It might hand him some fine later. For now, he will have to deal with his angst.

Green, in his post-day thoughts, said that he knew he had taken a clean catch. He told Test Match Special right after the end of Day 4's play, "I knew I caught it straight away. I know it looks a bit weird but I knew straightaway I caught it."

The social media is currently divided over the dismissal. Former India cricketers Wasim Jaffer and Virender Sehwag took potshots at the umpires while commentator and expert Harsha Bhogle said that he felt catch was taken cleanly by Green but what happened after the catch is taken must disappoint Gill. 

At the same time, Australia great Ricky Ponting said that he felt the ball had touched the ground but it is the umpires' interpretation that the fielder was in control of the catch before the ball touches the ground that matters. "I actually think some part of the ball did touch the ground and it is the interpretation of the umpire that that as long as the fielder has complete control of the ball before the ball hits the ground then it is out," Ponting told ICC.

So, was Gill out or not out?

There are grey areas in cricket laws and this was one of the incidents which underlined how complicated the game is. While one can question the rules, such difficult decisions are based on umpire's interpretation of the catch while looking at the conclusive evidence. One of the last frames in the replay shows Green' fingers right under the ball after the catch is taken. The frame just after it shows that the ball may have been grassed. A part of the ball appears to be touching a blade of grass. What mattered to Umpire Kettleborough, however, was that Green had the ball in control with all fingers under it. Even if the part of the ball is touching the grass, it cannot be ruled as 'Not Out', say the laws. 

Kettleborough stuck to the laws and his own interpretation. The laws can still be questioned but not the umpire's quality of umpiring in that moment.

What does the 'Out Caught' law of MCC says?

Take a look at the three important points of the laws:

33.2.1 The striker is out caught if a ball delivered by the bowler touches his/her bat without and is subsequently held by a fielder as a fair catch before it touches the ground.

33.2.2 A catch will be fair if the ball is held in the hand or hands of a fielder even if the hand holding the ball is touching the ground.

33.3 The act of making a catch shall start from the time when the ball first comes into contact with a fielder's person and shall end when a fielder obtains complete control over both the ball and his/her own movement. 

By looking at law 33.2.1, one undestands that Kettleborough must have thought that Green's fingers were under the ball even if it touched a blade of grass a second later. While evidence in hand revealed that Green's fingers were under the ball, the red cherry was also touching the grass. This is the grey area which makes it hard to accept the 'Out' decision. It is here that umpire's interpretation takes over. For Kettleborough, the blade of grass touching the ball even after the catch was taken did not mean the ball was grounded. Such decisions are hard to accept but here the umpire was within the rules to declare Gill out.