ENG vs IND: Umpires ask Rishabh Pant to remove taping on his gloves at Headingley

It was a tiring day for team India’s bowlers on the second day of the ongoing third Test at Headingley. England piled on the misery thanks to their Joe Root who smashed his third century of the series. The hosts currently have a whopping lead of 345 runs in the first innings with two wickets still in hand. During the day’s play, India wicketkeeper Rishabh Pant and the skipper Virat Kohli were seen having a chat with both the on-field umpires.

Before the start of the third session, the match officials Alex Wharf and Richard Kettleborough told Pant to remove the tapes on his wicketkeeping gloves. The taping was apparently branching his fourth and fifth finger which is not correct according to the MCC laws.

Law 27.2 designed for gloves states as follows:

27.2.1 – If, as permitted under 27.1, the wicketkeeper wears gloves, they shall have no webbing between the fingers except joining index finger and thumb, where webbing may be inserted as a means of support.

Commentators explain the law

Interestingly, the umpires made their move after Dawid Malan was caught behind the wickets off the last ball before Tea and soon after walking out on the field, they got the tapes remove from Rishabh Pant’s gloves. At the same time, the commentators on air, Nasser Hussain and David Lloyd, clarified the confusion for the viewers stating that the laws for the gloves suggest one can’t tape the way Pant did.

“There’s lots in the laws of the game about the webbing, but we’re hearing from the third umpire, Richard Illingworth, that he wasn’t allowed and he’s not allowed to tape his gloves like that, so they’ve asked him to take that tape off,” Hussain said.

Further Lloyd argued that Dawid Malan should be recalled as the dismissal would be illegal with the gloves being taped. However, Nasser Hussain reckoned that tapes had been there right through the series and not only for this match.

Meanwhile, Pant will have a bigger role to play with the bat later in the second innings as India are way behind in the Test match and it remains to be seen if he makes an impact.