There was plenty of scoffing from the Australian side when Indian captain Rohit Sharma bemoaned an apparent pattern of decisions going against his side, but startling new statistical analysis shows there may be something in his claim, and raised new questions about potential anti-Indian conspiracies.
After the dramatic finish to the MCG Test, Sharma said: “I don’t know how the umpires want to use the technology, but in all fairness I think he did touch the ball. It’s about the technology, which we all know is not 100 per cent. It’s just that … more often than not, we are the ones falling on the wrong side of it. I feel we were a little unfortunate.”
Although many dismissed his words, an investigation by The Roar into Indian dismissals during this series proves there is some truth to Sharma’s allegation: in the first four Tests, there has been a definite trend of Indian batters being given out after they have hit the ball and been caught.
A deep dive into the stats, in fact, shows that in almost one hundred percent of cases when an Indian has hit the ball and the ball has been caught before it hits the ground, that Indian has been given out by either the on-field or third umpires. Many observers are now wondering whether this could really be explained by random chance.
One notable example that experts have been particularly struck by occurred in the second test in Adelaide, won by Australia. In the first innings Indian champion Virat Kohli played at a ball from Mitchell Starc outside off stump, and made contact with the ball with his bat.
The ball then travelled in the air to Steve Smith at second slip, who caught it. Kohli was then given out, arousing much comment among those who had already noticed, even in the Indians’ victory in Perth, a tendency for correct decisions to go against the team.
Given Kohli’s well-documented form struggles and question marks over his career, many are now wondering whether the decision to give Kohli out when he was out may have had a deleterious effect on his future.
Another instance occurred during the Brisbane Test, when all-rounder Ravindra Jadeja hit a Pat Cummins ball in the air to deep square leg, where it was caught by Mitch Marsh. At the time the major controversy around this dismissal centred on claims from Indian management that Marsh could not possibly have caught it because he is not actually playing in this series, but further investigation shows it as a clear continuation of the pattern whereby Indian batters hitting balls that are caught is resulting in dismissal with alarming consistency.
As yet, captain Sharma has demurred from demanding an official investigation into umpiring practices, but there are rumblings behind the scenes suggesting the BCCI may demand that the ICC call its umpires before a disciplinary panel to explain why they seem to be targetting India with decisions that accord with the laws of cricket.
Yashasvi Jaiswal speaks with the umpire after being dismissed. (Photo by Daniel Pockett – CA/Cricket Australia via Getty Images)
A BCCI source, who wished to remain anonymous, stated: “So far this series, every Indian player has been out at least once – some of them multiple times. Are we expected to believe this is a coincidence?”
Ex-players have been divided on the controversy. Former Australian captain Mark Taylor dismissed talk of a conspiracy, saying, “I was given out several times in my career after hitting a ball in the air to a fielder. It’s never pleasant when it happens, but it’s the rub of the green. These things happen to everyone occasionally.”
Ex-England great Michael Vaughan agreed, saying, “As long as the human component exists in decision-making, we will always get some correct decisions, and that’s something we have to live with.”
Indian legend Sunil Gavaskar disagreed, saying, “Throughout my career, I was given out more times than I can say after being caught, and there was always one common denominator: the fielder who took the catch was never Indian. It’s sad to think that after all these years this is still going on.”
The new revelations come as the BCCI announces that it has engaged an independent magician to conduct studies into the effect of optical illusions on cricketing results.
The Mysterious Phantasmo will be running tests to determine how far a ball can be made to appear to deviate during appropriate climatic conditions, and presenting a report on Australian military experiments with hypnotism.
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