Cricket fans were left stunned when a rare act in the women’s Test match between Australia and India reignited an age-old debate.
Cricket fans have been divided by an unusual moment in the women’s Test match between Australia and India on the Gold Coast.
After a rain-affected first day, India has continued to pile on the pain, passing the 200-run mark and looking to bat the Aussies out of the game.
Watch our record-breaking women live and ad-break free during play on Kayo when they take on India in the Women’s Test series. New to Kayo? Start Your Free Trial >
Viewers were left stunned when India’s Punam Raut effectively gave herself out in the afternoon session on Day Two.
The No. 3 batter had been scoring slowly and was on 36 when she pushed at a delivery from off spinner Sophie Molineux, which appeared to just pass the outside of the bat into wicketkeeper Alyssa Healy’s gloves.
Punam immediately “walked” off the pitch at Metricon Stadium, despite umpire Phillip Gillespie shaking his head and giving her not out.
Healy was the only Australian player to give a decent appeal for the catch, with Molineux and her teammates only giving a muffled shout.
In cricket, the act of “walking” is where a batter is given not out by the umpire but believes they are out, and they voluntarily give up their wicket and make their way back to the pavilion.
Former Australian wicketkeeper-batter Adam Gilchrist was famous for walking throughout his career but it has become an increasingly rare sight in the modern game.
Punam’s decision to give up her wicket left India 3-217 heading into the final session of the day.
The matches between India and Australia in Queensland do not have access to the technology required for the Decision Review System (DRS), meaning Punam could have stood her ground and continued her innings without the Aussies reviewing the chance.
Australian batter Beth Mooney was mic’d up and was asked by the commentators if she would have walked if she was in Punam’s shoes, to which she responded: “Nah, no chance!”.
“Talk about spirit of cricket,” former Australian captain Lisa Sthalekar said in commentary on Fox Cricket.
“You don’t get an opportunity to play Test cricket very often and Punam Raut says, ‘I’m going because I know I hit it’.
“Extraordinary scenes out here.”
Many fans praised Punam for her honesty and acting in the spirit of the game.
“The “spirit” of cricket has suddenly made an appearance at Metricon Stadium,” ESPN Cricinfo writer Annesha Ghosh tweeted.
“Punam Raut walks off despite the umpire adjudicating an appeal for caught behind as NOT OUT. Scenes!”
Sreshth Shah added: “Could’ve been tempting for Punam Raut to stand her ground.”
“A rare test, her first pink ball test, 164 balls in on a comfortable track, no DRS. Impressed.”
But others questioned whether Punam needed to walk and give up her wicket at all.
“I didn’t get why Punam Raut walked,” cricket journalist S. Sudarshanan tweeted.
“Not too strong/convincing an appeal from Sophie Molineux. The ump said no. There’s no DRS anyway. Wasn’t as if there was a massive deflection either.”
Crininfo’s Shashank Kishore agreed: “Punam Raut a little too honest when the opportunity was there to bat Australia out of the game.”
“Why walk when the umpire is there to do a job?”
“I’m still somehow not even convinced Punam Raut edged that,” ABC sports broadcaster Brett Sprigg said.
Earlier in the day Smriti Mandhana fell for 127 after she broke the record for the highest score by a visiting player in a women’s Test match in Australia. Shafali Verma was also out for 31.
For all the latest Sports News Click Here
