Didn’t think that the ball hit the stumps, even while watching the replay: Gill on Hardik’s freak dismissal

Hyderabad: In Indias 12-run victory over New Zealand in the ODI series opener at the Rajiv Gandhi International Stadium on Wednesday, 31,187 fans were treated to 208 from Shubman Gill and 140 from Michael Bracewell.

But India all-rounder Hardik Pandya’s freak clean bowled dismissal off Daryl Mitchell also became a huge talking point even after the match was over.

The dismissal occurred in the 40th over of India’s innings, when Hardik tried to cut a delivery through the third man but saw his off-stump bail being dislodged as the ball passed extremely close to the stumps and the on-field umpires referred the call to the TV umpire K Ananthapadmanabhan.

Replays showed that wicketkeeper and New Zealand skipper Tom Latham was standing up to the stumps. He also had his gloves very close to the bails, which looked to light up just after the ball had passed over the top of the stumps and was cleanly collected by the keeper.

Viewing a series of replays, the TV umpire tried to check whether Latham’s gloves were behind the stumps before he collected the ball, which was the case, so it was a legal delivery. He was eventually satisfied that there was no conclusive evidence that the bail had been dislodged by the wicketkeeper’s gloves, which left many dissatisfied.

Now, Shubman Gill, who made a magnificent 208 in India’s victory, said he didn’t agree with the decision of Hardik being adjudged clean bowled off Mitchell.

“As a non-striker batsman, I didn’t think that the ball hit the stumps, even when I was watching the replay. Sometimes there’s a blind spot — you can’t really tell like what happened.”

“I thought with the bail falling towards the crease, it’s a bit weird if the ball is hitting like that and the bail falling towards the crease instead of the other side. These bails are different. It’s a heavy bail and the stumps are a bit different. But, at the end of the day, you have to go with the third umpire and respect his decision,” he said in the post-match press conference.

During the match, when the dismissal unfolded, former India head coach Ravi Shastri, who was on English commentary duties at that time, wasn’t entirely convinced about the decision.

“Oh, it’s been given out! Daryl Mitchell should be happy. Should really be happy, because, if you take a look again as to where the keeper’s gloves are, where the ball is as it passes the stumps, it looked as if the ball was at least an inch, inch-and-a-half above the stumps.”

“Ball clearly looks to be above the bail. You can see as it goes past into the gloves, there’s no red light, it’s only after that. There you go. From that angle, you can see that the gloves are closer to the bails than the ball.”

Former India opener Wasim Jaffer immediately tweeted, “1. Clear gap between ball and bails. 2. Ball is inside gloves, bails (are) not lit yet. 3. Bails lit after brush from gloves. Hardik robbed there.”

Hardik had to walk back after making 28 off 38 balls, ending a partnership of 74 for the fifth wicket with Gill, who went on to score his maiden double-century in ODIs through a 149-ball 208 and power India to a massive total of 349/8 in 50 overs.

–IANS