Former Indian opener Sunil Gavaskar slammed the third umpire over Yashasvi Jaiswal's controversial dismissal on day five of the fourth Test against Australia in Melbourne. Gavaskar strongly protested the third umpire's call, claiming that the deflection could have been a mere optical illusion.
The dismissal occurred in the 71st over of the innings sent by the Australian captain Pat Cummins, who delivered a bouncer down the leg-side. The left-hander aimed for the swivel pull but missed it as keeper Alex Carey took it behind the stumps, claiming there was an edge, prompting Cummins to take the DRS. While replays showed deflection when the ball was close to the glove, snicko showed nothing. However, the third umpire ruled it out, much to the southpaw's dismay.
Speaking on air, the 75-year-old advised the stakeholders to make decisions based on technology if it's in play and not rely on optical illusion.
"Agar deflection dikhai nahin de raha, deflection dekhe ya na dekhe, optical illusion ho sakta hai. Technology kaiko use kar rahe hain. Technology isi ke liye use kar rahe hain, snicko dikhaane ke liye. Yahan pe dikhai deta hai, line jo hai bilkul seedhi hai. Yeh jo bhi aap dekh rahe hain, optical illusion ho sakta hai, optical illusion se nahin jaaye. Agar aap technology use kar rahe hain, technology se hee jaaiye. Yeh galat decision hai, bilkul galat decision hai."
(That can be a mere optical illusion. Why are you using technology? If you see here, the line is straight. Whatever you saw over there, could be optical illusion. So, don't go on optical illusion. If you are using technology, go based on technology. This is a wrong decision, an absolutely wrong decision)
Pat Cummins and co. spark Team India's batting collapse in the final session
Cummins spearheaded Australia's bowling effort in the opening session by striking twice in one over, sending back Rohit Sharma and KL Rahul for single-figure scores. The home side went further ahead as Mitchell Starc struck to remove Virat Kohli in the final ball before lunch.
However, the pair of Yashasvi Jaiswal and Rishabh Pant consolidated well in the post-lunch session to leave Australia wicketless. It was Pant's dismissal off Travis Head that opened the door for Australia, leading them to take the remaining seven wickets for victory.
Pat Cummins and Scott Boland took three wickets each, while Nathan Lyon finished with a couple.
