Jaiswal dismissal: Gavaskar slams Bangladesh umpire for not using Snicko

Former India batter Sunil Gavaskar slammed the third umpire of the Boxing Day Test between India and Australia, Bangladesh’s Sharfuddoula Saikat, after he overturned an on-field decision of not-out and gave India’s Yashasvi Jaiswal out at a very crucial juncture in the game on December 30 (Monday) at Melbourne.

Officiating in his 9th Test as a TV umpire during this Border-Gavaskar Trophy (BGT) 2024-25 Test, Saikat did not use the Snicko meter evidence where there was a constant noise, but the meter never went up while the ball passed the gloves. The umpire kept asking the director of the footage to freeze the ball when it was touching the gloves after nothing could be picked up in the Snicko meter. 

Lambasting the umpire for not using the technology of Snicko and going with his instincts, Gavaskar said in Hindi Commentary, "This can never be given out. If there is technology, one should use it. You can not make a decision based on what you see and ignore the technology. There could be an optical illusion and we have seen it many times.”

“The ball that they are showing, which swung after passing the batter and going into the keeper's gloves, could be because of late swing,” Gavaskar added when it was indicated on broadcast with a line that changed directions after it passed the batter. 

“Umpires must overturn an on-field decision only when there is 'overwhelming evidence', and by no means it was overwhelming. It is a very poor decision,” were Gavaskar’s closing remarks about the issue, although he continued to back that up throughout his stay in the commentary box.

The decision was crucial because Jaiswal was playing with Washington Sundar as the last recognised batting pair and having played more than 200 balls, was India’s hope for a draw in the game. At the time of his dismissal on the bowling of Pat Cummins in the 71st over, more than 19 overs remained in the day with India having only three wickets in their pocket.

A few overs later, Australia used the DRS again, this time around, the snicko evidence, which showed a spike, was used by the Bangladesh umpire to give the batter - -Akash Deep out. During this instance, visual evidence did not show any connection and the on-field decision was also not-out. Thus the two decisions by the third-umpire in a span of less than three overs, were contrasting in nature.