Ravindra Jadeja delighted his fans with yet another sparkling performance on the field, as he strained to deliver a blinder in India’s 66-run win over Afghanistan in the ongoing ICC T20 World Cup.
The all-rounder, who is considered a world-class fielder, dashed in from afar and grabbed the ball, which appeared to be safely landing in no-man’s land at first.
“What a beauty!” former Zimbabwe cricketer Pommie Mbangwa cried in commentary.
“You can tell by the celebrations just how good it is. It’s an incredible catch.”
Also Read | T20 World Cup: After England beating, Australia aim to bounce back vs Bangladesh
While many dubbed it the “catch of the tournament,” the third umpire wasn’t satisfied and reversed the decision after closer inspection, prompting both spectators and players to criticise the official’s judgement.
Sam Billings and ex-Proteas pacer Dale Steyn, Stuart Broad, and Mitchell McClenaghan were among the cricketers who reacted to the incident, with all four claiming it was out.
Steyn tweeted “Tired Call Mr.Ump”, while Billings posted “Thought that was out tbf…jadeja is ridiculous in the field!’.
On a clip posted by the ICC, Stuart Broad commented “Looks out to me”.
The incident occurred when Karim Janat tried for the aerial route in the second delivery of Mohammed Shami’s penultimate over.
Despite a decent connection, the ball rocketed into the skies as Jadeja stepped up to the plate and delivered a magnificent attempt. The original decision was made, but the TV official overturned it after review, even though the replays showed that the fielder had snagged it cleanly.
Following the decision, the microblogging site Twitter was flooded with tweets accusing the umpire of robbing Jadeja of a wonderful catch.
Meanwhile, Virat Kohli’s Team India kept their dreams alive in the tournament with a commanding win over Afghanistan in Abu Dhabi on Wednesday evening. The team, which batted first, put up a massive total of 210/2 on the board.
Afghanistan could only produce 144/7 from their 20 overs in return.
