Mitchell Marsh walks despite daylight between bat & ball to leave Adelaide befuddled

In the first session on Day 1 of the ongoing Adelaide Test, KL Rahul got a reprieve when he was dismissed caught behind off a no-ball from Scott Boland. 

Rahul started to walk as soon as the keeper took the catch but replays showed something interesting apart from Boland overstepping - there was no nick; Rahul walked despite making no contact with the ball.

Well, Mitchell Marsh did a Rahul on the second day, except he ended up walking back to the pavilion as Ravichandran Ashwin, unlike Boland, did not overstep. 

The incident in question happened on the fourth ball of the 64th over. Ashwin was in the middle of an intriguing battle with Marsh, who was clearly finding life difficult against the off-spinner, having scored just three runs off 12 balls against the veteran. In one of these 12 balls, Marsh survived a dangerously close LBW call which India even sent upstairs.

Either way, on 63.4, Ashwin, from over the wicket, got one to go straight and fizz past the bat of Marsh. 

India barely appealed as they felt Marsh did not make contact with the ball, but Marsh started walking towards the dressing room, after which he was given out by on-field umpire Richard Illingworth. Marsh did not dispute the decision and raced back to the pavilion with a wry smile on his face. 

Here’s where things got really bizarre: replays showed that there was DAYLIGHT between bat and ball. There was a noise as the ball went past the bat but that came from Marsh’s bat hitting his pad. Snicko also confirmed that Marsh did not make any contact with the ball whatsoever.

The Western Australian’s decision to walk off left the commentators puzzled. In a way, it also seemed to befuddle the Indians, who themselves were surprised that Marsh chose to walk off, let alone not review it. 

Interestingly, it’s the second time this year India have seen a batter walk off despite making no contact. In an ODI against India in Colombo, Sri Lanka’s Janith Liyanage gave himself out despite not nicking the ball.

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