Cricket is a gentleman’s game where both sides try their best to maintain the sport’s dignity. But somehow, it is not possible to have the same behavior in all the games as various other factors come into play. Poor umpiring could be one factor that may lead to a disruption in the spirit of cricket.
Often, the on-field umpires cannot correctly judge whether the batsman is out or not out. Sometimes the match official may even raise his finger in the heat of the moment, which later on turns out to be a controversial matter as it changes the game’s result.
The best example of being a gentleman on the field was the Legendary Indian star Sachin Tendulkar, who never opposed the umpires’ decision and always walked down the ground if given out wrongly.
But, there have been several instances where the Indian side had complained about the poor umpiring in a cricket match. They are as follows:
India-Australia Test Series, 2007-08
The 2nd Test match of the Border-Gavaskar trophy 2007-08 featured one of the most controversial events in the cricketing history where poor umpiring led to India’s loss.
The umpire refused to raise his finger when Andrew Symonds nicked the ball, and it went into the hands of the wicket-keeper. This umpiring error cost dearly to the Indian side as Symonds ended up scoring 162 runs. The same scenario happened once again when he was stumped, but the square leg umpire Bucknor selected not to refer it. The unfortunate umpiring incident happened with Ricky Ponting, too, which eventually led to India losing the game.
However, later on, the umpire Steve Bucknor was removed from the umpiring panel for the 3rd test match after the Indian Cricket Board filed a complaint to the match referee.
India-Australia Test Series, 2003-04
Back in 2003, the West Indian umpire Steve Bucknor had come under the scanner after his poor decisions during the first Test match of this series. Despite the ball hitting Sachin Tendulkar’s thigh pad very high, the umpire raised his finger owing to Jason Gillespie’s strong appeal.
The same situation happened in the last Test match, where Bucknor turned out India’s LBW appeal against Justin Langer and Damien Martin. Later on, Indian Captain Sourav Ganguly presented a severe report in front of ICC regarding Bucknor’s poor calls.
India-Australia Test Series, 2014-15
The 2nd match of this series turned out to be a controversial one, with India losing the game owing to the umpires. Cheteshwar Pujara and Ravichandran Ashwin were the two guys who were given out despite the ball not edging their bat but their body parts. The ball deflected off Pujara’s helmet when the umpire raised his finger, whereas, in the case of Ashwin, it had hit his thigh pad. These errors led to India’s defeat as the team management questioned the umpiring standards.
India-West Indies Test Series, 2011
India luckily won the first Test match of this series in Jamaica by 63 runs despite the poor umpiring calls in the game. Umpire Daryl Harper ruled Virat Kohli out even though the ball had not touched his bat while he raised his finger to declare MS Dhoni out when the bowler Devendra Bishoo had overstepped. Although they won the game, India complained about the poor umpiring decisions.
India-Bangladesh ODI Series, 2015
The Bangladeshi umpires and their poor quality of umpiring came under the scanner after India lost the ODI series against them in 2015. Umpire Enamul Haque ruled out Ambati Rayudu even though the ball got reflected from his thigh pad. Whereas during the Bangladeshi side’s batting time, the umpire gave the benefit of the doubt in favor of the batsman Tamim Iqbal even though the replay depicted that Virat Kohli had neatly taken the catch.
During the same match, the collision of MS Dhoni and Mustafizur Rahman created another controversy. While Dhoni had to pay a hefty fine, Rahman got away with zero charges. Later on, the reports stated that the Indian side had filed a complaint with the signature of MS Dhoni and director, Ravi Shastri.
