There’s the possibility of every outcome as the World Test Championship (WTC) final between India and Australia at The Oval enters its fifth and final day. Needing 444 runs to win, India, at 164/3, find themselves in a cautious position with Virat Kohli (44*) and Ajinkya Rahane (20*) unbeaten.
Day four produced a lot of defining moments, including a Cameron Green catch that got the cricketing fraternity talking.
Let’s now take a look at what transpired in the build-up towards that catch, and more as we take a look at some talking points from Day 4:
Cameron Green’s controversial catch
Cameron Green’s controversial catch to dismiss Shubman Gill in India’s run-chase was a major talking point on Day 4 and it did not go well with the Indian fans.
The incident happened during the eighth over of India’s run chase, when Gill, looking to get forward in defence, instead got an edge off the bat and jabbed it towards Green at gully. Green displayed his sharp reflexes, making a diving effort to his left to seemingly complete a one-handed stunner. However, despite the dismissal, Gill stood his ground and the on-field umpires decided to take it to the third umpire, Richard Kettleborough. Kettleborough looked at various angles of the dismissal. The replays showed Green’s index and middle fingers under the ball, but there was no conclusive evidence to show if Green had avoided contact with the grass.
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After looking at the replays, Kettleborough concluded that Green’s fingers were in fact “underneath the ball” and that the decision stood in favour of the Aussies.
So much so that there were even chants of ‘Cheat, cheat, cheat’ towards Green were heard when he came out to bowl after the incident.
It was only recently that the ICC planned to do away with ‘soft signal’, where the on-field umpire would give a hint of what the verdict of the TV umpire would be. The soft signal rule was done away with from the ICC Playing Conditions with effect from 1 June, 2023. The new rules first fell into place during England’s one-off Test against Ireland at Lord’s.
“33.2.1 A catch will be fair only if, in every case either the ball, at any time or any fielder in contact with the ball, is not grounded beyond the boundary before the catch is completed,” states the MCC law regarding catches.
“33.2.2 Furthermore, a catch will be fair if any of the following conditions applies:
“33.2.2.1 The ball is held in the hand or hands of a fielder, even if the hand holding the ball is touching the ground, or is hugged to the body, or lodges in the external protective equipment worn by a fielder, or lodges accidentally in a fielder’s clothing,” it adds.
🔎🔎🤦🏻♂️ pic.twitter.com/pOnHYfgb6L
— Shubman Gill (@ShubmanGill) June 10, 2023
Carey-Starc stand
Alex Carey and Mitchell Starc led a late Aussie resistance with the bat, with a gritty 93-run stand for the seventh wicket.
Earlier, the Aussies had lost Marnus Labuschagne and Cameron Green by lunch on Saturday, and despite a 340-run lead following Green’s dismissal, Australia were in somewhat of a spot of bother given there were still five sessions remaining in the match.
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Despite scoring 41 runs, Labuschagne was far from his usual self while Green was going at a strike rate of less than 30.
However, Carey and Starc scripted a rescue act with a hard-fought partnership. The duo started on a rather cautious note, finding it challenging to face Ravindra Jadeja courtesy of his turning deliveries and extra bounce.
Carey even tried to play the sweep against Jadeja but to no avail. However, the boundaries gradually started coming for Carey when the Indian pacers came into the attack. Carey even hit Siraj for a couple of boundaries in the 84th over, both of them being cut shots.
Starc, too, found the going quite comfortable when the pacers came into play. Hitting Umesh Yadav for two fours in the 76th and Mohammed Shami for the same in the 83rd. There was some sense that a big innings from Starc was incoming.
But, Starc fell victim to an attempted slog later in Shami’s over, getting an edge off the bat that flew to Virat Kohli at first slip.
Nevertheless, the Carey-Starc partnership was one that would put Australia in a rather formidable position in this Test.
Promising start from Rohit and Pujara
How often do you see Cheteshwar Pujara getting off to a flying start in a Test match innings? Something unorthodox, isn’t it?
While Pujara’s knock of 27 was indeed short, it was memorable while it lasted. Pujara, usually known for taking his time to settle down at the crease, this time scored 20 of his 27 runs in boundaries (Five fours).
Pujara started off with two consecutive fours off Scott Boland, off two separate overs, before glancing towards the fine leg boundary off Mitchell Strarc in the 11th over. Pujara again punished Starc in the 15th over, before beating midwicket fence off Cummins’ ball in the 17th over.
Rohit Sharma, too, got regular boundaries flowing in his and India’s way, even pulling wide of fine leg for a six off Starc’s ball.
However, it was a costly sweep shot where Rohit gave away his wicket. Rohit, on 43, looked well set for a half-century, but facing Nathan Lyon in the 20th over, he brought out the sweep and was dismissed plumb LBW. Rohit did go for the review, but that hardly helped. The ball was pitching on the middle stump, but straightened to hit the top of off stump.
Pujara too, was dismissed in the 21st over by Pat Cummins.
Kohli, Rahane keep India afloat
Come Sunday, Virat Kohli and Ajinkya Rahane would have their task cut out if India are to chase down a total of 444.
The highest successfully chased Test total at The Oval is 263 which was chased by England against Australia back in 1902, so India surely have a mountain to climb.
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Ever since Pujara’s dismissal in the 21st over, Kohli and Rahane have added 71 runs for the fourth wicket.
And while Kohli, unbeaten on 44, looks set for a big knock, the focus will be largely on how Rahane approaches his game on Sunday.
During his valiant knock of 89 in the first innings, Rahane suffered a blow to his fingers on his right hand and was treated by the team physio in between his knock. While Rahane did brave his finger injury to put up a hard-fought effort, it remains to be seen if the 35-year-old would be able to carry the team forward with Kohli, given the pressure of a high total to chase down.
Rahane has so far scored 20 runs off 59 deliveries, with 12 of those coming in boundaries, but the key will be for both Rahane and Kohli to stitch a formidable stand, something like what Travis Head and Steve Smith did early on in the contest, and take the gamer as deep as possible.
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