Twitteratis react to Shreevats Goswami’s bizarre dismissal

Left handed Bengal batsman and wicket-keeper Shreevats Goswami was dismissed in one of the most bizarre fashion possible on Day 1 of the Karnataka vs West Bengal Ranji Match at the M. Chinnaswamy Stadium in Bangalore. With Bengal reeling at 15-2 after the fall of two quick wickets, Bengal batsmen Shreevats Goswami and Sudip Chatterjee tried to stabilise the innings.

With the scoreboard at 26-2 in the seventh over, Shreevats Goswami pushed a length ball, striding forwards unconsciously, back to former Indian bowler and Karnataka captain, R Vinay Kumar, who picked up the ball up in his follow through and took a shot at the stumps.

Kumar’s throw was way off the target, but the ball hits Goswami’s bat causing it to be raised temporarily and the ball ricochets towards the stumps, knocking the bails off the stumps before Goswami could ground his bat back in the crease. The umpire ruled Goswami out leaving Bengal at 26/3.

Former India all-rounder turned commentator Rohan Gavaskar, who came on air soon after the incident, said, “The law has proved to be an ass today,” he said before repeatedly insisting that Karnataka should have withdrawn the appeal. “I would have expected a champion team like Karnataka to withdraw their appeal rather than stick to it,” he added.

The bizarre dismissal also evoked some strong reactions on twitter with many fans feeling that R Vinay Kumar’s appeal was against the spirit of sportsmanship as well as that of the game. Later in the day, Vinay Kumar took to Twitter to explain his position.