Another controversy erupted early on the first morning of the fifth Test between India and Australia in Sydney when a relay catch involving Steve Smith and Marnus Labuschagne off Virat Kohli’s bat was ruled by the third umpire as not legitimate.
With Indian openers KL Rahul (4) and Yashasvi Jaiswal (10) dismissed early, India were 17 for 2 when Kohli came in to bat and edged the first ball he faced from Scott Boland to the slips, where the Aussie players claimed the relay catch between Smith and Labuschagne.
Diving low to his right, Smith believed to have got his fingers underneath the ball before lobbing it in the air for Labuschagne to complete the catch. The decision was referred by the on-field umpires for review, and the third umpire ruled that the ball grazed the ground before Smith lobbed it back up.
Talking to Fox Cricket at the lunch break, Smith said he has no doubt that it was a clean catch, but they have to accept the decision taken by the match officials.
“Did you get your hand underneath that ball?” former England player turned commentator Isa Guha asked Smith?
“100%, no denying it whatsoever. But the umpires made the decision, and we move on,” replied Smith.
After replays were shown on the giant screen and the third umpire announced his view, Kohli was seen shaking his head with a wry smile on his face.
India went to lunch at a shaky 57 for 3, losing Shubman Gill (20) off the last ball delivered by off-spinner Nathan Lyon before the break, leaving Kohli on the crease at 20 not out. He was joined by Rishabh Pant post lunch.
Earlier, India left captain Rohit Sharma out of the eleven, with Jasprit Bumrah doing the leadership duty and chose to bat first after winning the toss.
India made two changes to their team. Shubman Gill took Rohit’s place, while Prasidh Krishna came in for fellow pacer Akash Deep who is out with a back injury.
