Jason Holder opened up about his controversial catch to dismiss Rajat Patidar after Gujarat Titans' victory against Royal Challengers Bengaluru in Ahmedabad on Thursday. The first innings saw controversy, and Patidar and Holder were at the centre of it. Coming to bat at No. 4 after Virat Kohli's (28) dismissal, Patidar tried to stitch together a partnership with Devdutt Padikkal but lost his wicket in the eighth over.
The manner of his dismissal became a matter of controversy! Receiving a hard length delivery from Arshad Khan, Patidar tried to pull it, but ended up top edging it over short fine leg. Kagiso Rabada turned around and ran for it. Meanwhile, Holder also coverged by getting around to his right in the deep. Holder committed to the catch and got his hands out in the front to hold the ball low on the slide. But then Patidar was asked to wait as the third umpire checked the legality of the catch. Replays showed that the ball, being in Holder's left hand on the slide, was touching the turn, but the third umpire felt that Holder was in control of his body and adjudged it as a fair catch.
From RCB's point of view, the ball touched the ground as Holder was completing the catch. Annoyed RCB players surrounded the reserve umpire during the review, and Kohli, in particular, was visibly fuming with the decision. He was also seen having an animated discussion with the match official, and was also with Andy Flower.
‘I just committed to it’: Jason Holder
Speaking after the match, Holder said, "For me, I just committed to it. And when I first went to the area, it was trying to just sight down and pick it up. But after I picked it up, I realized it was a chance, and just thankfully we didn't collide. But for me, I wasn't going to pull out of it. And I just wanted to make sure that one of us got to it and gave a good effort. KG is a big bowler and he's a big player. And for me, it's just related message to him that, he did play some really good shots."
"I think if he held his length and continued to hit the wicket as hard as he possibly can, you know, he was able to extract that bounce, so we just got the better of Virat. It was a good shot delivery. And we always knew, we always knew that we could take it for us up front. You know, even although the first over probably didn't go according to plan, he was able to come back and bowl the next and second over, which got us back into the game," he added.
The dismissal proved pivotal, as Padikkal failed to form any kind of partnership with other batters, who were dismissed cheaply. Jitesh Sharma (1), Tim David (9) and Krunal Pandya departed for single-digit scores as Padikkal lost his wicket in the 14th over.