Just as the controversy surrounding Yashasvi Jaiswal’s dismissal on the final day of the Melbourne Test began to fade, another catch controversy has arisen in the Australia-India series. This time, it occurred on the first morning of the Sydney Test, where Virat Kohli survived despite edging a catch. However, fielder Steven Smith claimed it was a “100% certain catch.”
As expected, this incident has divided former cricketers and analysts. While Mark Waugh and Michael Vaughan believe Kohli was out, Irfan Pathan and Mark Nicholas think the umpire’s decision of not out was correct.
The incident happened during the eighth over of the first day of the fifth Test of the Border-Gavaskar Trophy. Kohli had just come to bat after India lost their second wicket at 17 runs. Facing Scott Boland’s first ball, Kohli edged a catch to the slips.
Smith, stationed at second slip, dived to his right and caught the ball near the ground. However, instead of holding on to it, he tossed it upwards, and Marnus Labuschagne grabbed it near the gully region. The Australian fielders erupted in celebration, believing they had dismissed Kohli.
Kohli, however, stood his ground, expressing doubt about the catch. The on-field umpire referred the decision to the third umpire. Joel Wilson reviewed replays from multiple angles and declared Kohli not out, concluding that the ball had touched the ground before Smith could secure it with his fingers. Kohli survived on 0 runs.
Before leaving the field for the lunch break, Smith told presenter Isa Guha that he was confident the catch was clean. “It was 100% a catch. No doubt about it. But the final decision lies with the umpire.” Commentators on Fox Sports, including Mark Waugh and Allan Border, also supported Smith’s claim. Waugh argued, “It was out. The ball was very close to the ground, but he (Smith) had his fingers under it.” Border echoed this sentiment, adding, “It’s a matter of perception. From what I saw, Smith’s fingers were definitely under the ball.”
Not only Australians but England’s former captain Michael Vaughan also opined that it was a legitimate catch. On X (formerly Twitter), he wrote, “In my opinion, that was out.” However, England’s commentator Mark Nicholas supported the not-out decision, stating there wasn’t enough evidence to conclusively call it a catch.
India’s former cricketer Irfan Pathan reiterated the same point on X, “The not-out decision for Kohli was correct.”
On the final day of the Melbourne Test, third umpire Sharfuddoula Ibne Shahid’s decision to give Jaiswal out for a catch had sparked a heated debate. Although ICC didn’t comment on that incident, they issued a statement on their website within an hour of the Sydney Test controversy.
Before sharing the opinions of various experts on Kohli’s dismissal, ICC clarified that third umpire Joel Wilson ruled Kohli not out as he was unconvinced about the “fair catch” under MCC Law 33.
Despite surviving the controversial catch on 0 runs, Kohli couldn’t make a significant impact. In the second session of the day, he was dismissed for 17 runs off 69 balls, edging another catch off Boland, this time taken cleanly by debutant Beau Webster in the slips. At the time of Kohli’s dismissal, India’s score was 72/4.
Australia currently leads the series 2–1.
