Last night a tense affair between Sri Lanka and Afghanistan resulted in a dramatic finish as the latter walked out victorious. However, the situation spiralled out of control when the Sri Lankan captain, Wanindu Hasaranga lost his cool at umpire Lyndon Hannibal adjudged a high full toss as a legal delivery in that much talked about final over.
Wanindu Hasaranga went all guns blazing at the umpire, asking him to find another job altogether. He remarked, “If you can’t see that, that umpire isn’t suited to international cricket. It would be much better if he did another job.”
Here are two points to the same. Firstly, for someone who is the Sri Lankan captain, if he is losing his temper to that extent, he may even be handed over a ban for a couple of matches, then something is serious wrong. Secondly, let’s just say that Lyndon was wrong on that particular occasion, is Hasaranga the right man to suggest him a change of jobs?
We suppose not. Cricket being a game of the finest margins obviously deserves the best of decisions. Even one mistake can cost a lot and ideally for players who are on the yard, who have been on the ground squeezing out their blood and sweat, it gets even more difficult.
However, the umpire in question is also a human being and not a machine. Being human comes with mistakes. Being human comes with imperfections and no matter how good you are at your job, mistakes happen. That is not because you intend to but with so many factors and pointers reigning supreme, the pressure from the players, the audience, the position of the game and what can one match do, it all leaves the umpires under tremendous pressure.
So at times, the decision may not be right. And it will impact the match. However, if you want to oppose the decision, then ICC has got a concrete process in place. Stick to that. Do not go attacking an individual in the way you want.
“If you can’t see that, that umpire isn’t suited to international cricket. It would be much better if he did another job” – Wanindu Hasaranga
The decision⬇️pic.twitter.com/hNjBfRoX5P
— Cricket.com (@weRcricket) February 22, 2024
Going by Wanindu Hasaranga’s words, that one decision was good enough to decide that Lyndon should find another job. But then again, Hasaranga himself is not spinning mysteries on every single ball. There are looseners too that he bowls and concedes runs. In fact all cricketers have their bad days.
But that doesn’t mean that they would change their decision. Obviously if the umpire is wrong he should be reported and the decision must be scrutinized but what Hasaranga said, that is a very derogatory remark and should not be tolerated under any cost.
