Watch: 12th Man Mitchell Marsh tries to bowl in the Indian innings, gets stopped by the umpire

What's the Story?

The second Test match between India and Australia is currently underway at Perth and a lot of controversial moments have taken place in the 4 days of action thus far. However, the vice-captain of the Australian Test squad, Mitchell Marsh created a light-hearted moment at the start of the Indian chase in the fourth innings of the match.

In Case You Did Not Know...

Earlier in the day, tension levels had increased after the altercations between the captains of both the teams. Virat Kohli tried to break the concentration of Tim Paine by using some aggressive tactics. Australia had set a huge target for the visiting team before this hilarious incident took place at the Optus Stadium.

The Heart of the Matter

'Yeah just right-arm over, thanks' 🤣🤣#AUSvIND pic.twitter.com/7l46I7F2aN

— cricket.com.au (@cricketcomau) December 17, 2018

When KL Rahul and Murali Vijay came out to bat in the second innings, everyone expected Mitchell Starc to start the proceedings with the ball. However, the Australians sent Mitchell Marsh instead of Mitchell Starc towards the umpire to bowl the first over.

The umpire quickly realized that Marsh was not a part of the playing XI and thus, handed him his cap back disallowing him to bowl. The 12th man in a cricket match is only allowed to field as a substitute on the field and he is not allowed to bat or bowl for his team.

The commentators acknowledged that it was a prank played by the Australian vice-captain ahead of the start of the Indian innings.

What's Next?

Whether Mitchell Marsh did this on purpose or not is not known yet but this moment certainly came up as a light-hearted moment in the tense Test match. The home team are having the upper hand heading into Day 5 and it will be quite a challenge for the Indian team to save this match.