Jason Holder was in the thick of action on Thursday night at the Narendra Modi Stadium in Ahmedabad. Donning the Gujarat Titans jersey, he was involved in five dismissals and picked up the Player of the Match award as Gujarat beat the defending champions Royal Challengers Bengaluru by four wickets. But the first of those dismissals had sparked fury in the RCB camp, with experts even questioning the legality of that stunning catch.
What exactly happened?
On the fourth ball of the eighth over, Arshad Khan bowled a length ball as RCB skipper Rajat Patidar went for a pull, and ended up getting a top edge that carried the ball towards deep backward square. Holder, stationed nearby, charged towards it, and so did Kagiso Rabada. But he avoided a collision and took a smart low catch. But RCB players were not convinced after the replay showed that the West Indies all-rounder grassed it more than once, including while sliding.
Virat Kohli, in particular, was left enraged in the RCB camp as he immediately got off the bench, remonstrating with his hand that the ball had touched the ground, before he was seen animatedly talking to the reserve umpire in the dugout. RCB head coach Andy Flower joined him as well.
Patidar hung around all this while near the boundary, before an eventual verdict from the TV umpire saw him drag himself over the field.
The discussion between Kohli and the umpire lasted long after Patidar had settled himself in the dugout.
Former cricketers - Irfan Pathan, Aakash Chopra, Abhinav Mukund, Dodda Ganesh - backed RCB's protest as they reckoned it was not a legal catch, and that Holder had indeed grassed it while sliding. And why not? Three years back, a Mitchell Starc effort during an Ashes game at Lord's was ruled out by the third umpire for the same reason. Replays showed that the ball had scraped along the turf as Stac slid around the boundary. The third umpire, in his verdict, said that the Aussie did not have full control over his movements.
What does the law say?
The Laws of Cricket clearly state that a catch is only complete when the fielder has full control of both the ball and their movement, meaning if the ball touches the ground while the fielder is still sliding, it is not out.
Law 33.3 clearly states," A catch is only completed when the fielder has 'complete control over the ball and his/her movement'. The ball cannot touch the ground before then.
In Starc's incident, MCC had explained in a social media post back then that the player "was still sliding as the ball rubbed the ground, therefore he was not in control of his movement."
The same was cited for Holder as well. Fans shared screenshots of the ball touching the grass on two occasions after Holder grabbed it, one when he was sliding and the other when he took support to get up.
Then why was Patidar deemed out?
Firstly, the TV umpire did not review the full footage and gave the decision after stopping at the moment Holder took the catch, likely believing he had control over the ball and his movement at that point. Secondly, the way the umpire interpreted “control of movement”. It does not mean the fielder has to be still. A player can be moving and still be in control.
Now, Holder did err in the way he got up, taking the support of the ball, but the umpire seemed to have considered the catch complete before Holder’s slide and fall, treating the act of getting up as a separate action.