"Not even close" - England wicket-keeper delivers verdict on KL Rahul catch during Day 2 of BGT 2024-25 5th Test

England wicketkeeper batter Sam Billings has delivered his verdict on KL Rahul's catch to dismiss Mitchell Starc on Day 2 of the ongoing fifth Border Gavaskar Trophy Test match between Australia and India in Sydney on Saturday, January 4. The incident happened on the first ball of the 47th over which was bowled by Nitish Kumar Reddy during Australia's first innings.

Starc edged the back of a length delivery down to the second slip fielder Rahul who dived forward and managed to get his fingers under the ball, thereby taking a fine catch. Even the third umpire was convinced when the on-field umpire reached out to him regarding the legitimacy of the catch and thereby the fiery pacer had to walk back to the pavilion for just one run.

Later, the official broadcaster Fox Cricket took to their social media handle Instagram and posted a video of the catch with a caption that read,

"ANOTHER close call in Sydney... thoughts on this one?"

Here's the post:

Replying to the post, a completely convinced Sam Billings replied by saying,

"Not even close, caught clear as day."

Here's what Billings had to say:

Sam Billings' reply to Fox Cricket's Instagram post on KL Rahul's catch (Source: Fox Cricket Official Instagram)

It was the fourth catch of the innings by KL Rahul who had already caught Usman Khawaja, Steven Smith and Travis Head.

KL Rahul finishes the 2024-25 Border Gavaskar Trophy with 276 runs

Having managed scores of four and 13 respectively in both innings of the Sydney Test match, KL Rahul finished the 2024-25 Border Gavaskar Trophy with 276 runs across 10 innings. The 32-year-old registered two half-centuries in the series with his highest score of 84 runs off 139 balls coming in the first innings of the third Test match in Brisbane.

His other fifty was in the victorious series opener where he made 77 runs off 176 deliveries in the second innings at the colossal Optus Stadium in Perth. Meanwhile, Sam Billings is plying his trade with Sydney Thunder in the Big Bash League.