Herschelle Gibbs compares Yadav’s controversial catch with his infamous drop in 1999 World Cup

Umesh Yadav would have definitely been happy when he was given the nod ahead of Ishant Sharma to play the first Test against England but has had a very testing time in the game. There were catches dropped off his bowling in his very first spell, he has bowled over 25 overs in the first innings without much success and has been knocked all over the ground and then the one catch he took off his own bowling also caused controversy on day 1.

Joe Root played the penultimate delivery of the 81st over straight back to Umesh Yadav. At first, it looked like Yadav has safely taken the catch but made a mess of it in the very next moment. In an attempt to celebrate too early, Yadav tried to throw the ball up in the air but fumbled it badly. To make it look worse, he tried to catch it again but never reached the ball which raised the questions over the legality of the catch. Joe Root, who seemed like walking to the pavilion at first stopped after looking at Yadav’s acrobatic failure.

This caused divided opinions among cricket pundits over the validity of the catch. Questions were raised that if Yadav held the ball long enough for it to be categorized as a legal catch.

Former England skipper and one of the commentators for the series, Nasser Hussain said India were lucky to see the back of Joe Root. On the other hand, his countryman, Michael Atherton felt that a fair decision has been made on the ground as Joe Root himself started to walk back when the ball was grasped by Yadav.

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But the South African Herschelle Gibbs, one of the better fielders the game has supported Umesh Yadav’s case saying that the fast bowler held the ball long enough to deem it as a valid catch. Quite appropriately, Gibbs compared Yadav’s effort with his infamous drop of Steve Waugh’s catch during World Cup 1999.

Gibbs said, “There’s not much difference between Yadav’s and my catch, but he held on to the ball slightly longer than I did. He actually had control of the ball and threw it in the air whereas I wanted to throw it up but dropped it. Mine eventuated in a not out, but Yadav’s catch was valid. The umpires got it right both times.”

Gibbs comments would certainly make Yadav feel at ease as the words has come from a cricketer who has went through similar circumstances himself. In Gibbs scenario, it proved to be much worse as ultimately, the drop led to South Africa missing out on a golden opportunity to win the World Cup.