New Delhi: Is it safe to go with the fielder’s word? Does the fielder know whether he has got his fingers beneath the ball? All these questions crept up during the Gujarat Lions and Sunrisers Hyderabad match in Hyderabad.
The decision went in the fielding team’s favour. Jason Roy was given the marching orders. Perhaps the right decision, as no conclusive evidence was found even after repeated replays from different camera angles. But the element of doubt cannot be ruled out.
Shikhar Dhawan seemed convinced that he had his fingers under the ball while diving forward. The on field umpires also seemed to fall in Dhawan’s line. Immediately one caste his mind back to the India-Australia Sydney Test when umpire Mark Benson gave Sourav Ganguly out on the basis of fielding captain Ricky Ponting’s assurance. Replays showed a completely different picture. Unlike that incident, this time the umpires went upstairs with a soft signal of out, which means the decision can only be overturned if there is conclusive evidence of the ball touching the ground.
And as is it turned out there was nothing conclusive to suggest that. But was there conclusive evidence that Dhawan had his fingers right beneath the ball? Perhaps not, but abiding by the rules of the game the red light had to be flashed. It might have been a different story had the soft signal been in batsman’s favour.