Pat Cummins has rushed to the defence of third umpire Sharfuddoula Saikat after a controversial moment led to Indian fans giving the Australian side a final day of the Boxing Day Test.
The thrilling match came down to the final day with Nathan Lyon dismissing Mohammed Siraj in the 79th over to seal a 184-run victory for the hosts.
But fury erupted around the MCG earlier on in the day as Yashasvi Jaiswal was controversially given out following a review.
The moment even attracted the attention of the vice president of the Official Board of Control for Cricket in India (BCCI), Rajeev Shukla, who said, ‘Jaiswal was clearly not out.’
Pat Cummins, who took three wickets on the final day, threw a shorter delivery down to the 23-year-old batter, who appeared to clip the ball behind him to Alex Carey.
The Aussie keeper took the catch prompting mass celebrations from the home team, after Cummins’ side had struggled to remove the Indian opener who had built up a score of 84 runs.
Yashasvi Jaiswal was given out following a controversial DRS review on Monday afternoon
Pat Cummins’ side had reviewed the on-field decision of not out, after the ball appeared to take a nick off Jaiswal’s glove
Upon review, Snicko did not show a spike when the ball passed his glove, but the Third Umpire had assessed that the ball had taken a deflection
Umpire Joel Wilson initially ruled the catch as not out before Australia reviewed the call. The reviews showed that the ball had made a noticeable deviation after it had passed Jaiswal’s glove – though snicko was inconclusive in its findings, showing no spike.
Third umpire Sharfuddoula subsequently overturned the on-field decision and left India hanging on at 7/140.
Five overs later, Akash Deep also found himself at the centre of a DRS controversy, after he had appeared to knick the ball out to Travis Head from a Scott Boland delivery.
The umpire had again ruled not out, with Australia opting to review the call. This time snicko appeared to show a spike, with the third umpire subsequently overturning the on-field review and handing Deep his marching orders.
Plenty of fans have taken to social media to speak out on Jaiswal’s dismissal, while some India fans inside the MCG where overheard chanting ‘Cheaters! Cheaters!’ as a nickname for the Australian team.
The moment has sparked widespread commentary throughout the cricket community, with Cummins rising to the defence of the third umpire in his post-match press conference.
‘I think it was clear that he hit it. Heard a noise, saw deviation so it was absolutely certain that he hit it,’ the Australia captain told reporters.
‘As soon as we referred it, you could see him drop his head and basically acknowledge he hit it.
He was subsequently given out with Jaiswal protesting his case, appearing to be incensed after the decision was overturned by the third umpire
Further reviews showed that Jaiswal had significantly changed the direction in which the ball was travelling
‘On screen, you could see he hit. Ultra-edge, I don’t think anyone has complete confidence in and didn’t really show much but fortunately, there was other evidence to show it was out.’
The moment came at a crucial part of the game, with Australia having already dismissed Rohit Sharma, KL Rahul and Virat Kohli for 33 runs within the first 30 overs of the innings.
Sharma, meanwhile, appeared to agree with Cummins after the match.
‘I don’t know what to make of that because the technology didn’t show anything, but with the naked eye it seemed like he did touch something,’ the India cricket captain said.
He did, however, question the use of the technology, before conceding again that the ball appeared to take a nick.
‘I don’t know how the umpires want to use the technology, but in all fairness, I think he did touch the ball,’ Sharma added.
‘It’s about the technology, which we know is not 100 per cent – more often than not we are the ones falling on the wrong side of it. That’s where we are unfortunate.’
BCCI vice president Shukla took to X to voice his complaints over the decision.
He wrote: ‘Yashaswi jayaswal was clearly not out. Third umpire should have taken note of what technology was suggesting. While over ruling field umpire third umpire should have solid reasons.’
Sunil Gavaskar also highlighted that India will feel aggrieved by the use of snicko.
‘I think maybe there will be conversations with maybe the match referee and the umpires that if the technology is not to be taken, then why have it at all?’ the India cricket legend told Channel 7.
BCCI vice president Rajeev Shukla also blasted the decision as ‘clearly not out’ on social media
Australia, meanwhile, celebrated wildly after removing Jaiswal after he had amassed a score of 84
Cummins came to the defence of the third umpire stating he thought that it was ‘clear’ that the India star struck the ball
‘That is something that will definitely be the query as far as the Indians are concerned. Yes, it looked as though it might have gone off the glove but there can be an optical illusion.’
Rather interestingly, Jaiswal was seen walking past Head with the pair appearing to exchange words. Head was seen looking quizically at the opener as if he was asking him for his view on the matter, before walking away pumping his fists in the air. The Channel 7 commentator was heard saying: ‘This is Jaiswal walking past Travis head and I think he owned up to it.’
Former Australian cricket captain Ricky Ponting was firm in his stance over the matter.
‘They can make of it what they like – that clearly hit the glove,’ Ponting said.
‘I called it at the time, Jaiswal started to walk, as soon as the Aussies went upstairs, he started to take a couple of steps away.
‘Snicko hasn’t proven it to be correct, but the umpire picked up on the deflection, froze it where the ball was on the end of the glove and as far as I’m concerned there was no argument whatsoever.’
Simon Taufel, also on Channel 7’s punditry team for the match, concurred with Ponting.
‘In my view, the decision was out,’ he said.
Rohit Sharma conceded that Jaiswal had appeared to touch the ball as it crossed over his glove but was equally confused by the use of snicko
Sunil Gavaskar also questioned the use of snicko asking that if umpires are not going to use it ‘why have it at all?’
Ex-Aussie captain Ricky Ponting was forthright in his opinion, stating that ‘there was no argument whatsoever’
‘The third umpire did make the correct decision in the end. 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.’
While Nitish Kumar Reddy produced a century in the first innings, it was Jaiswal who was the pick of the India batters in Melbourne, producing a score of 82 in the first innings, following that up with 84 in the second.
Despite going through a blip in Adelaide and Brisbane, he has impressed so far during the Border-Gavaskar series, smashing his way to a first-innings score of 161 in Perth.
India, though, must win next week’s final Test in Sydney if they are to stop Australia from winning the series and claiming the Border-Gavaskar trophy for the first time in nearly nine years.
Australia, meanwhile, can seal their place in the World Test Championship final should they beat India at the SCG. Should they win, they’ll take on South Africa in Lord’s later this summer.
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