Former India wicketkeeper Surinder Khanna has commented on one of the most controversial moments of the Boxing Day Test, accusing the touring side of being ‘liars’.
The thrilling match came down to the final day with Nathan Lyon dismissing Mohammed Siraj in the 79th over to seal a 184-run victory for the hosts.
But fury erupted around the MCG earlier on in the day as Yashasvi Jaiswal was controversially given out following a review.
The moment even attracted the attention of the vice president of the Official Board of Control for Cricket in India (BCCI), Rajeev Shukla, who said, ‘Jaiswal was clearly not out.’
Pat Cummins, who took three wickets on the final day, threw a shorter delivery down to the 23-year-old batter, who appeared to clip the ball behind him to Alex Carey.
The Aussie keeper took the catch prompting mass celebrations from the home team, after Cummins’ side had struggled to remove the Indian opener who had built up a score of 84 runs.
Yashasvi Jaiswal was given out following a controversial DRS review on Monday afternoon
Upon review, Snicko did not show a spike when the ball passed his glove, but the Third Umpire had assessed that the ball had taken a deflection
Further reviews showed that Jaiswal had significantly changed the direction in which the ball was travelling
Umpire Joel Wilson initially ruled the catch as not out before Australia reviewed the call. The reviews showed that the ball had made a noticeable deviation after it had passed Jaiswal’s glove – though snicko was inconclusive in its findings, showing no spike.
Third umpire Sharfuddoula subsequently overturned the on-field decision and left India hanging on at 7/140.
The decision was not received well by much of the Indian camp, but Khanna has a different take and has criticised the Indian team for not getting on with it.
‘There is no point in making controversy, they’ve shown it from four angles that the ball hit the gloves and its pace also decreased before Alex Carey caught it behind the stumps. Akash Deep also complained of a similar thing when he was caught out. ‘Juthe log hai yeh’ (These people are liars), you have to play fair first then only you’ll start winning,’ Khanna told IANS.
‘When the bat is in your hand, how can you not know about edging the ball? We have played bad and we have lost. What kind of batting they’re doing? Come the IPL, these players will hit runs. Don’t play over-aggressive T20 cricket and play positively. Let’s hope that the luck changes in the New Year (for the Indian team).’
The moment has sparked widespread commentary throughout the cricket community, with Cummins rising to the defence of the third umpire in his post-match press conference.
‘I think it was clear that he hit it. Heard a noise, saw deviation so it was absolutely certain that he hit it,’ the Australia captain told reporters.
‘As soon as we referred it, you could see him drop his head and basically acknowledge he hit it.
Ex-player Surinder Khanna took a brave stance to criticise the Indian team for not accepting the decision
Pat Cummins has come to the defence of the third umpire since the incident
The moment even attracted the attention of the vice president of the Official Board of Control for Cricket in India (BCCI), Rajeev Shukla, who said, ‘Jaiswal was clearly not out’
‘On screen, you could see he hit. Ultra-edge, I don’t think anyone has complete confidence in and didn’t really show much but fortunately, there was other evidence to show it was out.’
BBG Sports are the founders of snicko and the innovative ‘Hot Spot’ technology which was first used in the 2006 Ashes and has gone on to revolutionise the review system in cricket.
Warren Brennen, who established the company and is their head of technology, revealed to The Sydney Morning Herald that snicko doesn’t always pick up slight touches or ‘glancing blows’.
‘On those glance-type shots, there is rarely any noise,’ Brennan told the outlet. ‘Glance shots are not Snicko’s strength, whereas it is for HotSpot.’
Hot Spot works using infrared cameras that can measure heat signatures gained from friction on a player’s bat, gloves or pad. In fact, the system is understood to have taken elements from technology used in military jets and tanks as part of its design.
While the system, which was designed in 2007, could have helped provide more conclusive evidence of whether Jaiswal had touched the ball, the system is currently not in use for the 2024-25 Border-Gavaskar series.
That’s because concerns have previously been raised over the system’s accuracy.
In 2013 Brennan claimed that bat coatings and tape could trick the technology and nullify the thermal signature the camera would ordinarily pick up should a cricket ball strike the bat.
Hot Spot’s use has subsequently decreased and is now not widely used by international teams.
