There might not have been anyone at the SCG more confident than Steve Smith when it came to whether he got his fingers under a catch to remove Virat Kohli for a golden duck.
“100 per cent, no denying it whatsoever,” Smith said on Fox’s broadcast after the controversial catch was given not out.
While Smith was convinced the ball didn’t touch the ground, the video evidence, especially in slo-mo, left room for doubt. Both things can be true.
In which case, whatever happened to some benefit of the doubt going to the batsman? Virat Kohli was completely within his rights to wait at the crease to see whether the catch carried.
A poll posted by this masthead is evidence that the cricket-watching public is torn and believe there was a degree of doubt. Across more than 12,800 votes, 36 per cent of readers felt that Smith did not have control of the ball.
Another 19 per cent were not sure, while 44 per cent said it was a clear catch.
Third umpire Joel Wilson has a reputation as a conservative decision-maker. He determined he could not be certain the ball did not hit the ground for a split second and so gave Kohli not out. He was unsure that Smith had complete control.
Video replays can be fraught with danger. Slowing them down makes things look worse for a batsman.
Did Steve Smith take this catch cleanly?Credit: 7 Sport
Even in real time, there was definitely doubt.
This has nothing to do with Smith’s integrity. It might have been a clean catch. He might have felt his fingers under it. He might have deliberately flicked it to Marnus Labuschagne, who ultimately completed the catch.
But ultimately there was doubt. To say with 100 per cent certainty that the ball didn’t touch the grass was not possible in this instance.
Kohli has been struggling for runs all tour and might not play another Test. Argue all you like about whether the 36-year-old should be in India’s best team or not, but to have a career ended by a catch like that would have been a tough break for a great of the game.
Law 33.2.1 states that a batsman should be given out if the ball “is not grounded beyond the boundary before the catch is completed”.
Not surprisingly, opinions on the legitimacy of the catch to remove Kohli appear to be split along national lines.
A plethora of former Australian players have emphatically declared that Smith got his hands under the ball. That might be correct, but the degree of doubt was high.
Former Australian coach Darren Lehmann provided the most neutral and measured view when debate raged in commentary boxes and online.
“Out for mine,” Lehmann wrote on X, before another post five minutes later.
“And I can also see why they have it not out,” he wrote.
Steve Smith and Australia claim the catch. Credit: Getty Images
Former Indian fast bowler Irfan Pathan said on social media: “Virat Kohli was not out which was rightly called NOT OUT.”
Even in the SCG’s media centre, there did not appear to be a unanimous view. Had an Australian batsman been dismissed in identical fashion, one expects there would have been plenty of outrage.
The game is better off for the use of technology. The days of fielders telling umpires whether the ball carried or not are over.
The infamous “Monkeygate” Test between Australia and India at the SCG in 2008 boiled over, in part, due to fielders telling umpires they thought a ball had carried. Some fielders have claimed catches when replays showed there may have been enough doubt to suggest those batsmen deserved to remain at the crease.
If you think the backlash to third umpire Wilson’s decision on Friday was fierce, imagine how Indian fans would have taken it if Kohli was told to head back to the dressing rooms.
But while the decision has made for great debate, it did not have a huge bearing on the game given Kohli was soon after caught by Beau Webster off Scott Boland for 17.
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