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Australia captain Steve Smith was not amused by Ravindra Jadeja's antics on the non-striker's end during the ICC Champions Trophy 2025 semifinal at Dubai International Cricket Stadium on March 4. Jadeja was trying to stop the ball when he bumped into Marnus Labuschagne and held on to him as he went off-balance. It stopped Labuschagne from answering the skipper's call to take a single.
The incident took place in the 21st over of the innings. Smith played the ball to the right of Jadeja. The left-arm spinner tried to stop the ball with his right foot. But, the ball hit the bat and went towards mid-wicket. Then, Jadeja hugged Labuschagne as the Australians missed the opportunity to take a single.
Smith was not happy with Jadeja as he threw his hands in the air and had a few words to say as well. Labuschagne did not say anything as Smith was disappointed over missing out on the opportunity to retain the strike.
Jadeja removes tape, then Labuschagne
Jadeja ended up bowling a maiden over. Earlier, in the 20th over, the on-field umpire Richard Illingworth asked Jadeja to remove the taping off his bowling hand. He lost a few drops of blood in the same over trying to stop the ball but continued in the absence of Axar Patel who injured his neck and went off the field.
In the 23rd over, Labuschagne hit Jadeja for a four. On the third ball, he was dismissed lbw by the veteran spinner. He scored 29 runs from 36 balls. Smith went on to score his half-century from 68 deliveries.
Smith's two major reprieves
Smith had an early reprieve as well. The zing bails did not go off in the 14th over bowled by Axar. After an inside-edge, the ball rolled towards the stumps, disturbed the bails but they were not dislodged. He was batting on 23 then. In the 22nd over, his catch was dropped by Mohammed Shami off his own bowling. His score was 36 at the time of the dropped chance.
