The dismissal of England-wicketkeeper, Jonny Bairstow caused a lot of arguments and debate on the spirit of cricket in the sport.
India’s veteran spinner, Ravichandran Ashwin mentioned that Rahul Dravid, coach of the Indian Men’s Cricket team had a long conversation on the topic.
Ashwin on his YouTube channel shared that, “The other day, we were sitting on a beach, and Rahul bhai bought me a lemon juice. He had a one-hour discussion with the bartender and waiter on whether Jonny Bairstow was out or not.”
They spoke about the rules, the spirit of cricket and everything in their discussion. Then suddenly an old man came and declared that Bairstow was out,” said Ashwin.
Amidst all the controversy regarding the dismissal, Ashwin tweeted his opinion on the dismissal. He said, “We must get one fact loud and clear. The keeper would never have a dip at the stumps from that far out in a test match unless he or his team have noticed a pattern of the batter leaving his crease after leaving a ball as Bairstow did. We must applaud the game smarts of the individual rather than skewing it towards unfair play or spirit of the game.”
Chasing a target of 371 runs, Bairstow along with English skipper, Ben Stokes were about to forge a partnership at a crucial stage in the game. Australian all-rounder Cameron Green bowled a slow bouncer and Bairstow ventured out of his crease assuming the ball was already ‘dead’, the Aussie keeper Carey, played within the rules and broke the stumps.
The third umpire of the match, Marais Erasmus adjudged the decision in favour of Australia. But skipper Stokes did not approve of the tactic as he believed Bairstow did not step out of the crease in order to steal a run.
According to ICC Playing Conditions, rule 20.1.2, Carey was well within his rights to break the stumps. The rule states, “The ball shall be considered to be dead when it is clear to the bowler’s end umpire that the fielding side and both batsmen at the wicket have ceased to regard it as in play.”
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