"Cameron Green's catch was also similar" - Aakash Chopra questions Mitchell Starc's catch being ruled 'not out' in 2nd Ashes Test

Aakash Chopra has questioned the disparate umpiring decisions in Mitchell Starc's catch of Ben Duckett in the second Ashes Test and Cameron Green's catch of Shubman Gill in the World Test Championship (WTC) final.

Duckett was given not out in England's second innings of the Lord's Test when the ball was seen touching the ground. On the flip side, Gill was given out in the WTC final when certain images suggested that the ball might have touched the ground in the process of completion of the catch.

In a video shared on his YouTube channel, Chopra reflected on some of the controversies in the recently concluded Lord's Test. Regarding Starc's catch, which was ruled invalid, he said:

"One more thing I recall is Mitchell Starc's catch. He took the catch, was in control and after that, his hand touched the ground. That is one concern for me, Cameron Green's catch was also similar but there the third umpire gave it out."

The former Indian opener bemoaned the lack of consistency in such decisions:

"When Mitchell Starc did it, the third umpire said this is not out, that it is a wrong thing as the ball touched the ground. Really? This will be a slight problem. There should be consistency in the way you make decisions."

Chopra pointed out pictures might not be conclusive for low catches:

"Rather than right or wrong, the bigger problem is because of inconsistency. Once you agree that let's not read too much into the low catches, the pictures are 2-D and it's a 3-D sport, you will always feel that the ball touched the ground in low catches and you might not get conclusive evidence."

Duckett was ruled not out as it was evident that the ball touched the ground after Starc took the catch. On the other hand, Gill's decision was debatable as the replays shown to the third umpire didn't give a clear picture of whether the ball was grounded.

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"If the action is completed, that's it" - Aakash Chopra feels Mitchell Starc's catch was valid

Mitchell Starc was sure that he had taken a clean catch.

Aakash Chopra feels Mitchell Starc was already in control of the catch before the ball touched the ground:

"If the catch has been taken once and the fielder is fully in control, the catch is over after that. After that, you can keep the ball on the ground as well and when you throw the ball up in the air also, it falls on the ground. So if the action is completed, that's it."

Before the start of the final day's play, third umpire Marais Erasmus explained his decision to rule Ben Duckett not out. He pointed out that the fielder has to have control of his body and movement and that Starc was still moving when he put the ball on the ground.