Aussies profit from line-ball stumping call

A marginal stumping call has split fans and experts in a crucial decision during the first Gillette T20 International between Australia and India at the Gabba.

KL Rahul was the victim of the line-ball call that sparked a collapse of 3-24, in which star batsman and skipper Virat Kohli also departed, in the series-opener at the Gabba.

With India 1-81 chasing 174 from 17 overs in the rain-hit clash in Brisbane, Rahul was given out stumped following a lengthy deliberation by third umpire Gerard Abood.

Rahul momentarily lost his balance as he aimed a lunging cover drive off a wide leg-break from Adam Zampa, with Australia wicketkeeper Alex Carey whipping off the bails. 

Rahul's back foot had come out of his crease but he lunged back to try and make his ground. Television replays showed his foot was on the white line but the likes of Adam Gilchrist on commentary for Fox Cricket (and viewers at home) struggled to tell if any part of his foot was on the turf behind the paint. 

Abood finally deemed that no part of Rahul's foot was grounded behind the crease, handing Australia a vital wicket. Rahul appeared calm as he walked off the ground.

The Laws of Cricket state that a batter must have something grounded beyond the paint to be safe.

It was something resembling redemption for Carey for a blunder on the previous delivery.

The gloveman had accidentally broken the stumps with his gloves and a no-ball was called after a third-umpire review for hit-wicket, presumably because Abood has deemed Carey's gloves had gone in front of the wicket. The Laws of Cricket dictate that keepers "must remain wholly behind the wicket" until the ball is hit.

The stumping decision brought back memories of a similar incident from the first Test of last summer's Ashes series.

England allrounder Moeen Ali was given his marching orders after being deemed to have not have gotten any part of his shoe behind the line on a stumping call off Nathan Lyon.

Referring to footage from the stump camera, former Australia captain Clarke said on commentary: "I don't think you can clearly say there is something not behind the line, and the benefit of the doubt must go to the batsman in my opinion."

The Gabba popping crease was put under the microscope by fuming England supporters and press following Moeen's dismissal, claiming variously a "wobbly" popping crease or, for those particularly inclined to conspiracy theory, that a "thicker paintbrush" had caused Moeen's downfall. 

The line appeared straight during Wednesday's T20.

Gillette T20s v India 

November 21: The Gabba

November 23: MCG

November 25: SCG

Australia T20 squad: Aaron Finch (c), Alex Carey, Ashton Agar, Jason Behrendorff, Nathan Coulter-Nile, Chris Lynn, Glenn Maxwell, Ben McDermott, D'Arcy Short, Billy Stanlake, Marcus Stoinis, Andrew Tye, Adam Zampa.

India T20 squad: Virat Kohli (c), Rohit Sharma (vc), Shikhar Dhawan, KL Rahul, Shreyas Iyer, Manish Pandey, Dinesh Karthik, Rishabh Pant (wk), Kuldeep Yadav, Yuzvendra Chahal, Washington Sundar, Krunal Pandya, Bhuvneshwar Kumar, Jasprit Bumrah, Umesh Yadav, Khaleel Ahmed.