IPL 2026: 'Sufficient evidence on it' - Ian Bishop's verdict on contr…

The Gujarat Titans (GT) beat the Royal Challengers Bengaluru (RCB) by 4 wickets at the Narendra Modi Stadium in Ahmedabad on April 30.

A significant moment in the match came in the first innings when Jason Holder took a catch to dismiss RCB skipper Rajat Patidar off the bowling of Arshad Khan. Holder completed a diving catch running from deep square leg, but replays suggested that the ball had touched the grass when the West Indies all-rounder hit the turf. The catch was a subject of significant protest from the RCB dugout.

"We saw that the ball touched the ground, but I don't know what the umpire told [the players], so it's something within the law or whatever. I have no idea about that but, yeah, we wanted to have the umpire to have a closer look at that," RCB pacer Bhuvneshwar Kumar said at the press conference after the game. esporist.com

Former West Indies fast bowler-turned broadcaster Ian Bishop suggested that the positioning of Holder's hand while completing the catch deserved a second look, debating whether his fingers were under the ball when the catch was completed. Due to the circumstances of how the catch was completed, Bishop was inclined to believ that the catch was not out.

"My debate on it would be: Jason Holder, first he caught the ball, no problems with that. And then with the sliding of the hand initially, that deserved a second look. And then you talk about control of the ball but also control of the body. So, when you're looking to get yourself up having slid along the ground, are they determining that his fingers was under the ball?," Bishop said on ESPNcricinfo’s TimeOut show.

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"Because the back of the hand was to the sky, which means the ball was facing the grass. And so there was to me doubt there about ball and ground, because you're not in control of your body until you stop sliding and you stand up if you're going to do that. So out or not out? I think there was sufficient evidence in my mind for that to be," he added.

Ambiguity in the laws: Abhinav Mukund

Former Indian opening batter-turned broadcaster Abhinav Mukund believes that while there is a lot of vagueness around the law and its interpretation, the simple fact that the ball had touched the ground is enough to deem the catch as not out.

"To me that's not out because the ball should not touch the ground," he said. "If the ball touches the ground, then it clearly is not out. And there are multiple ways to get up. You're an extremely fit international athlete. You don't need your hands or a ball to get up. So that's where I stand in the whole matter,” he said.

"I know the law is there's a lot of ambiguity in the law itself. But if the ball touches the ground, to me it's not out. And what I saw, which I'm sure the TV umpire did see and a lot of our viewers also saw, [was that] the ball touched the ground," he added.

The MCC's Laws of Cricket state that a catch is taken when the fielder has "complete control over the ball and their own movement before it touches the ground."

London [UK], May 1 (ANI): Indian men’s and women’s teams at the ITTF World Team Table Tennis Championships made it to stage two, topping the tables in stage one groups with wins in their final group stage ties on Thursday.

The Indian women’s team outclassed Rwanda 3-0, while the men’s team also secured a win over Guatemala at the OVO Arena, Wembley.

Earlier, the Indian women’s team had started off their campaign by getting a walkover against Uganda and edging past Ukraine in their second tie to top the Stage 1b Group 6, as per Olympics.com. On the other hand, the men’s team clean-swept Tunisia 3-0 in the first tie and beat Slovakia in the second one, topping the Stage 1b Group 7.

Against Rwanda, the Olympian and world number 48 paddler Manika Batra set the tone, outclassing Chantal Hirwa in an absolute one-sided contest with a 3-0 (11-3, 11-3, 11-3) win, followed by Diya Chitale brushing aside Elevine Tumukunde 3-0 (11-2, 11-1, 11-3). Syndrela Das delivered the killer blow and sealed a victory for the women’s side.

Coming to the men’s action, the Olympian Sathiyan Gnanasekaran started out with a 3-0 win (11-3, 11-2, 11-9) against Sergio Carrillo.

Later, the world number 61st Manav Thakkar eased past Ian Morales 3-0 (11-4, 11-6, 11-5). Payas Jain closed out the tie with a 3-0 triumph (11-5, 11-5, 11-6) against Ricardo Gatica.

The championship is witnessing 64 teams in action, divided into groups of four of 16 teams each, participating in each of the men’s and women’s events. The World Team TT Championships were started as a standalone tournament back in 2000, and are set to conclude on May 10. (ANI)

(This content is sourced from a syndicated feed and is published as received. The Tribune assumes no responsibility or liability for its accuracy, completeness, or content.)

Gujarat Titans (GT) captain Shubman Gill praised his teammates for their improved fielding compared with earlier games, as well as the side’s all-round effort in handing Royal Challengers Bengaluru (RCB) a four-wicket defeat in Ahmedabad.

GT’s bowlers performed exceedingly well to restrict a strong RCB batting line-up to under 160, a total that was chased down by the home side despite a few hiccups in the middle. When Gill was asked about the reason behind the team’s win, the 26-year-old said: “I think our fielding was one of the key factors. At times, we haven’t fielded that well in previous games, but today was one of those days when everyone came together. The energy in the field was very, very good, especially after the second over when Virat bhai hit us for some runs, and the way we all came back together was crucial for us.

Rahul Tewatia made an unbeaten 27 in the run chase, his first match winning contribution this season. Although he would have preferred the job to be finished with more wickets in hand, Gill was pleased to see Tewatia finish the game.

“He’s a very important player for us, so I’m very happy that he finished the game,” Gill said about Tewatia. “That was one of the conversations we had during the timeout. We lost a couple more wickets than we would have liked, but in the end he played some good shots and everyone got a bit of time in the middle.”

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Powerplay problem

Despite defending such a massive total, MI failed to build early pressure as pacers Trent Boult and Jasprit Bumrah leaked runs. Thanks to SRH openers Travis Head and Abhishek Sharma’s onslaught, the visitors raced to 92-0 in six overs at a run-rate above 15. It was the joint-highest Powerplay score by any team against MI, matching Delhi Capitals’s effort in 2024.

Lucky Head

Opener Head was lucky to survive a caught-behind incident in the third over from Boult while he was on eight. He nicked one outside off to wicketkeeper Ryan Rickelton, but surprisingly neither Boult nor the wicketkeeper appealed. UltraEdge later showed a clear spike.

Ineffective Bumrah

Whenever Bumrah’s in the opposition, batters tend to target the other 16 overs, while looking to survive the four bowled by India’s premier pacer. However, this season, Bumrah has gone for loads of runs, without picking many wickets either. Against SRH too, he looked helpless, finishing with 0-54 off four overs — his most expensive spell of the season. Bumrah conceded five sixes, including a no-look shot from an uncapped Salil Arora off his final over.

Fielding flaws

There’s no excuse for poor fielding at this level even if you have a huge target to defend and skipper Hardik was understandably frustrated while discussing the multiple dropped catches and misfields at the post-match presentation. SRH top-scorer Head (30-ball 76) was the prime beneficiary as Naman Dhir misjudged a boundary catch (when Head was on two), turning it into a six, and later dropped him again (when the Aussie was on 30) inside the circle.

Impact-less Thakur

MI waited until the seventh over to introduce pacer Shardul Thakur as the Impact Sub, replacing Robin Minz. However, they didn’t use him despite the other bowlers being smashed all over the ground. The decision was questionable considering Thakur, who has picked six wickets in five innings, including a 3-39 against KKR, probably became the first Impact Player to neither bat nor bowl.