The third umpire has been in the spotlight since the first day of this Gavaskar Border Trophy as some of his decisions have been horrible. There has been inconclusive evidence, but the referee changed decisions on the field and made shocking decisions.

There was a case where the third umpire made the correct call yesterday when Steve Smith claimed the catch at the slips, but the ball had hit the ground so it was ruled not out. Meanwhile, KL Rahul took a simple catch later in the game, with the ball touching the ground only after he had control, but there were doubts over whether it was clean.

Former umpire Simon Taufel explained the difference between the two catches and why Rahul’s catch was ruled out. On 7Cricket, he exclaimed that the ball should not touch the ground during the act of catching it.

“The ball must not touch the ground during the entire act of catching it. The act begins when the defender touches the ball for the first time and ends when he has full control over the ball and its movement. The last part is the referee’s decision. “He must have felt that he (Rahul) did it before possibly grounding the ball to get up.”

India bowl out Australia for 181 to take a 4-run lead

India could not achieve a big score after choosing to bat first and could only score 185 in the first innings. However, they bowled exceptionally well in the second innings, taking wickets at regular intervals and not allowing Australia to take the game.

They bundled Australia out for just 181, with Mohammed Siraj and Prasidh Krishna snaring three wickets each. Furthermore, Nitish Kumar Reddy and Jasprit Bumrah dismissed two batsmen each and ensured India took a slender lead of 4 runs in the first innings.

Also read: Bad news for India! Jasprit Bumrah leaves stadium for scans midway through SCG Test

Jasprit didn’t bowl much in the second session, but luckily for India, other players stepped up and got the job done. Now India need to bat deep and score as much as possible.

They may run out of Bumrah on the second dig, so they need extra protection. Currently, they are 46/1 in 8 overs.

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