LONDON: After India’s heartbreaking loss to Australia in the World Test Championship final, opener Shubman Gill, who fell to a contentious decision in the second innings after a promising knock, shared a message for the fans.
India were left to rue their combined failures with the bat and ball as Australia registered a 209-run victory to lift their maiden WTC title. After the loss, Shubman Gill took to Twitter, posting a short message that read, “Not Finished”, with a picture of the Indian team.
Not finished pic.twitter.com/WSGwkkaH6v
— Shubman Gill (@ShubmanGill) June 11, 2023
Gill seemed poised for a big inning in India’s fourth-innings chase but was denied a shot at glory following a controversial and widely debated decision on Day-4.
On Day 4 at the Oval, bathed in sunshine, Gill was declared out by television umpire Richard Kettleborough at the stroke of Tea after India made a strong start in its chase of 444 runs.
Pacer Scott Boland got Gill to edge one at gully and all-rounder Cameron Green dived to his left to complete a one-handed stunner. However, the India opener stood his ground as the on-field umpires referred the matter to the television umpire.
Television replays from multiple angles couldn’t conclusively determine if the catch had been taken cleanly. The ball appeared to have touched the surface before Green got his fingers under it.
However, with the soft-signal rule now done away with, the television umpire eventually ruled in favour of Green. Gill stood in disbelief momentarily before trudging slowly off the field of play.
Captain Rohit Sharma, too, appeared unconvinced by the decision, which set off a mini-collapse for India as they lost the skipper and Pujara shortly after.
“At the time I definitely thought I caught it. I think in the heat of the moment, I thought it was clean and threw it up and obviously showed no sign of any doubt. And then it’s left up to the third umpire (Kettleborough) and he agreed,” Cameron Green said in a post-match press conference. (ANI)