Aakash Chopra (Photo Source: Instagram/Aakash Chopra)
Aakash Chopra, former India opener, has questioned the umpires following their decisions in Mitchell Starc’s catch of Ben Duckett in the second Ashes Test at Lord’s. He compared Starc’s catch to Cameron Green’s of Shubman Gill during the match between Australia and India in the 2023 ICC World Test Championship (WTC) final at The Oval, earlier in June.
During England’s second innings, opener Duckett was given not out as the ball was caught touching the ground. Meanwhile, during the WTC final, India’s young batting sensation Gill was given out when the ball was caught in a similar scenario.
Chopra reflected on one of the controversies in the second Test, Mitchell Starc’s catch which was ruled not out. The 45-year-old reckoned that Starc grabbed the catch and attempted to obtain control but his hand touched the base after that. The former cricketer was upset about this, stating this catch was also comparable to Green’s.
“One more thing I recall is Mitchell Starc’s catch. He took the catch, was in control and after that, his hand touched the ground. That is one concern for me, Cameron Green’s catch was also similar but there the third umpire gave it out,” Chopra said on his YouTube channel.
The former cricketer lamented umpires for their lack of consistency in aforesaid judgments. He stated that when Starc did it the third umpire ruled it not out and that is a faulty decision.
“When Mitchell Starc did it, the third umpire said this is not out, that it is a wrong thing as the ball touched the ground. Really? This will be a slight problem. There should be consistency in the way you make decisions,” he added.
The bigger problem is because of inconsistency: Chopra
Aakash Chopra went on to say that the major concern is the inconsistency in decision-making. Furthermore, he remarked that the images might not be convincing for low catches like this. Chopra added that it appears like the ball touched the ground as they are using 2D pictures in a 3D sport.
“Rather than right or wrong, the bigger problem is because of inconsistency. Once you agree that let’s not read too much into the low catches, the pictures are 2-D and it’s a 3-D sport, you will always feel that the ball touched the ground in low catches and you might not get conclusive evidence,” the former India opener concluded.