How Bhuvneshwar Kumar Plotted the Wicket of Aaron Finch With a Dead Ball in 3rd ODI

Indian pacer Bhuvneshwar Kumar had the last laugh on Friday after he successfully removed Australian skipper and opener Aaron Finch for the third time in the ongoing ODI series at the MCG.

But just before trapping Finch before the wicket, there was a moment of confusion in the middle when the field umpire declared a delivery by Kumar as a dead ball.

Here's what happened.

Noticing that Finch was standing way ahead of his crease, Kumar decided to deliver the final delivery of the ninth over in line with the umpire, so much so that, his back foot landed behind the official and his front foot was well over a yard away from the landing crease.

This one was called a dead ball... #AUSvIND pic.twitter.com/8V7ElRzZd9

— cricket.com.au (@cricketcomau) January 18, 2019

Visibly confused by Kumar's unique approach, Finch decided to pull out from the delivery and as a result, the umpire called it a dead ball. Although, unhappy by umpire's decision, Kumar's ploy to unsettle Finch worked as he returned to his mark and made the most out of the extra delivery gifted by the skipper by trapping him in front of the wicket on the very next ball.

This one was called lbw... #AUSvIND pic.twitter.com/Kno6FrQvm6

— cricket.com.au (@cricketcomau) January 18, 2019

Finch, who has been dismissed by Kumar three out of three times in the series, averages a mere 5.33 against the Indian swing king. In numbers, Finch has faced 37 deliveries from Kumar in the last three ODIs and scored only 16 runs.

While Finch's dismissal was widely celebrated, many on social media were confused by the umpire's 'controversial' decision to call it a dead ball by Bhuvi.

That's cheating. Deliberate dead ball to put Finch off. It worked https://t.co/6c4QOw3WN9

— Matt (@Mattys123) January 18, 2019

If batsman is allowed to stand couple of steps ahead to negate the swing? Why not allow the bowler to bowl from behind bowling crease?

— prashant (@buzaround) January 18, 2019

Neither the umpire nor the bowler were at fault in this case.

Umpire made no mistake, it was dead ball bcoz finch withdrew and under no circumstances a delivery can be co sidered legal if batsman withdraws from playing it... finch on the other hand didn’t expect such a response to his audacious move of standing outside the creese

— Excallibur (@merlionm2022) January 18, 2019

A dead ball is called when a batsman moves away before the bowler has bowled , but in this situation finch moved away when ball was already bowled by the bowler !! So that why I am saying that this wasn't a dead ball And finch paid for it on the very next delivery !! 😑

— Aditya Baru 99 (@aditya_baru) January 18, 2019

Others questioned Bhuvi's decision behind the 'trick ball'.

I don’t understand. What benefit is there bowling so far back?

— Seeker... (@Seekersupacoach) January 18, 2019

I'd say it's for a surprise factor. Finch did the right thing in pulling away and the umpire was correct in calling it a dead ball.

— Nathan Watson (@NathanW39506373) January 18, 2019

Why was it called a dead ball anyway?

As it turns out, Kumar bowling in line with the umpire wasn't the reason why it was deemed unfair by the umpires. In fact, a bowler is well within his/her rights to bowl from far behind the stumps as long as he/she isn't bowling behind the umpire. As many pointed out, West Indian Kieron Pollard and former Aussie pacer Mitchell Johnson have used this tactic in the past to unsettle the batsmen.

However, when a batsman decides to withdraw from a shot, the field umpire has the right to call it a dead delivery.

As Fox Cricket rightly points out: Law 2.6 of the ICC’s ODI playing conditions states “umpires shall be the sole judges of fair and unfair play.”

Earlier, the visiting captain won the toss and opted to bowl in the third and final clash of the series. The Aussies were bundled out for 230 as Yuzvendra Chahal bagged 6 in his 10 overs for 42 runs.

Follow the live updates here to follow India's response with the bat.