India batter Shubman Gill received a warning from the umpire after he took the catch of Australia opener Travis Head in their Champions Trophy semi-final in Dubai on Tuesday. The incident happened on the second ball of the ninth over of Australia’s innings as Head miscued his pull off Varun Chakravarthy’s delivery. He lofted the ball towards long-off, and Gill covered a lot of ground to take an outstanding catch. While the catch was clean from Gill, the umpire wasn’t completely satisfied with him releasing the ball straightaway after pouching the ball. As a result, he issued a warning to the youngster.
Here’s what the rule says:
While there is no specific time limit stated for how long a fielder must hold the ball to complete a catch, the Marylebone Cricket Club (MCC) rule says that the player must have complete control over the ball and their own movement before the catch is considered complete.
“The act of making a catch shall start from the time when the ball first comes into contact with a fielder’s person and shall end when a fielder obtains complete control over both the ball and his/her own movement,” the rule read.
After opting to bat, Australia reached 76 for 2 after 15 overs with captain Steve Smith batting alongside Marnus Labuschagne.
Mohammed Shami got the wicket of Cooper Connolly (0) in the third over while Chakravarthy dismissed Head (39) in the penultimate over of the first powerplay.
The Indian players are donning black armbands in the memory and honour of domestic cricket legend Padmakar Shivalkar, who passed away due to age-related illness.
The semi-final is the first ODI between India and Australia since the World Cup final on November 19, 2023 in Ahmedabad. Australia had won the game by 6 wickets.
India qualified for the semi-finals after winning all three of their group stage games — against Bangladesh, Pakistan and New Zealand.
The other semi-final is in Lahore on Wednesday, with Group B toppers South Africa facing Group A runnes up New Zealand.
Playing XIs
Australia: Cooper Connolly, Travis Head, Steven Smith (capt), Marnus Labuschagne, Josh Inglis (wk), Alex Carey, Glenn Maxwell, Ben Dwarshuis, Nathan Ellis, Adam Zampa, Tanveer Sangha.
India: Rohit Sharma (capt), Shubman Gill, Virat Kohli, Shreyas Iyer, Axar Patel, KL Rahul (wk), Hardik Pandya, Ravindra Jadeja, Mohammed Shami, Kuldeep Yadav, Varun Chakravarthy.
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