'He is world's best umpire, knows the rule books': Cummins quashes Rohit's 'replay' jibe at Kettleborough for Gill catch

Australia strolled home to a comfortable 209-run victory against India in the World Test Championship (WTC) final at The Oval, putting up big runs and taking 20 wickets to seal their first WTC trophy in a dominant fashion. The Australian team had set India a target of 444, and while it was always a steep ask, openers Shubman Gill and Rohit Sharma instilled hope by giving the team a positive start.

After getting off to a brisk start, the opening partnership between the two came to a premature end when Gill edged a delivery pitched outside off by Scot Boland, which was sensationally caught by Cameron Green at gully. The tall all-rounder dived to his left and plucked a worldie and immediately broke into celebrations but umpires were not very convinced. The matter was sent upstairs and after a lengthy examination it was given out by the third umpire in controversial circumstances.

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In clips and still images shared widely on social media, the Indian fans, ex-cricketers and players argued the catch was not clean as Green had grounded the ball in the process.

Soon after close of play on day 4, Gill took to social media to voice his displeasure, sharing a still image where the ball appeared to be touching the ground, with a row of sarcastic clapping emojis. His opening partner and captain Rohit had earlier been seen in discussion with the on-field umpires after the decision was given Australia’s way.

While it was a fine attempt from Green to grab the ball one way or another, the controversy which has stemmed from it continued to be at the forefront of discussions around the fourth innings chase, even after a collapse early on Day 5 handed Australia a massive victory.

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Speaking in the press conference, Aussie captain Pat Cummins elaborated on his perspective of the catch and the decision made by TV umpire Richard Kettleborough.

"I thought it was a fair catch. Green was an absolute screamer and obviously we're just players. We're out on the field so we leave it in the umpire's hands and personally, probably the best umpire in the world, he knows the rule books, he's seen every angle. I'd probably back his decision more so than emotional, passionate fans that are looking on a big screen from 100 meters away," Cummins said.

However, Cummins' counterpart Rohit had a different narrative to the incident and complained about the umpire of not using technology to its full extent. "Third umpire should have seen a little more replays, a little more on how the catch is been held. I think three or four times he saw, and he was convinced with it," the Indian skipper said during the post-match press conference.

"More camera angles should have been shown. There were only one or two camera angles that were shown. We've got more angles in IPL, we've got 10 different angles in IPL. I don't know why in a world event like this, there was no ultra-motion that was seen, or any kind of zoomed image, that is what I was little disappointed with."