Shubman Gill, the opening batsman for India, has been fined 15% of his match fees by the International Cricket Council (ICC) for expressing his concerns on social media regarding an umpiring decision during the World Test Championship (WTC) final. The incident occurred when Australia set a challenging target of 444 runs, and Cameron Green took an impressive catch to dismiss Gill for 18. However, there were differing opinions on whether the catch was clean, as video replays failed to provide a clear view of whether the ball had touched the ground before Green caught it. Despite the uncertainty, third umpire Richard Kettleborough ruled in favor of Australia.
Gill responded to the decision by tweeting a video angle of the catch along with two magnifying glasses and a facepalm emoji, expressing his disbelief. According to the ICC, this action violated article 2.7 of their code of conduct, which pertains to “public criticism of, or inappropriate comment in relation to an incident occurring in an international match.” As a result, Gill accepted the penalty, and no formal hearing was required.
Rohit Sharma, the captain of the Indian team, expressed disappointment with the decision, suggesting that additional camera angles could have helped eliminate any doubts. In addition to Gill’s fine, the entire Indian team was fined their match fee for maintaining a slow over-rate at The Oval, while Australia received an 80% deduction in their fees for also falling short of the required over-rate by four overs.
