The Cricket Test match between India and Australia held during 2nd to 6th January 2008 is the most controversial match I have ever seen. This would be the most discussed in recent times and it didn’t even spare a normal discussion in one of our classes. It even went onto a small unintentional debate whether the series should continue or should not. One even went up to saying that Ricky Ponting, captain of Australian cricket team, should be sacked. Even Peter Roebuck, former English player, shares the same idea. What led to all these comments? If you had missed out the live action, watch this video!
One or two bad umpiring decisions during a match is acceptable. But what happens when there were so many bad umpiring decisions that could decide the fate of the match and also lead to many controversies? Lets see the list of bad umpiring in that match.
Ricky Ponting tries to hit a ball that was going down the leg side and nicks it clearly to the Indian wicket keeper Mahendra Singh Dhoni. Even if the umpire hadn’t heard the nick, Ricky Ponting surely would’ve known that he had, so why doesn’t he walk away on his own, as even his own teammate Gilchrist does it himself and also advises others to? Ricky Ponting was on 17 runs then. He then went on to make 55 before he was given lbw (which was another wrong decision).
Ricky Ponting was given lbw when he had scored 55. If you could see in the video, it clearly hit the bat before brushing the pads.
Andrew Symonds would be the first ever batsman in International Cricket to be given four chances of batting. As an editor of CricInfo has said that even a shopkeeper in a nearby street could’ve heard Symonds nick to Mahendra Singh Dhoni. Even Virender Sehwag would’ve forgiven Billy Bowden for giving him out wrongly during Australia tour of India 2004, but Ishant Sharma would not forgive Steve Bucknor for this wrong decision that went in favour of Symonds.
The second time Symonds was given not out was when Dhoni stumped Symonds off the ball of Kumble. Even when the third umpire was called to make the decision, he was given not out, even when the replay clearly shows that the batsman is out. On what basis was the decision given in favour of the batsman? Even the third umpire had made a mistake.
The third time, a similar type of appeal, but this time bowled by Harbhajan Singh. But this time Steve Bucknor, the umpire did not even cause any trouble for the third umpire but gave the batsman not out, when the foot of Symonds was clearly out of the crease. Not to forget, after all these not outs (two before when he had reached 50), Symonds went on to make 165 raising the Australian score that had been damaged very badly when the Australian top order collapsed.
Wasim Jaffer was clean bowled off a NO-ball. Its either the umpire was too lazy or had a backbone problem or had a row with Jaffer the day before.
Next is the worst (worst comparatively), when Dravid was given caught behind out by Steve Bucknor when the bat was nowhere near the ball. Neither were the gloves. Dravid, fondly called as the Wall of Indian cricket team, was building on a good innings when he was adjudged out wrongly. This was a major blow to the Indian batting.
Sourav Ganguly edged a ball to Michael Clarke at third slip, who, supposed to be a great fielder (Australia calls themselves so), catches it after the ball pitched near his hand and worst grounded the ball after catching it. Worst, he began celebrating as if he has taken the best catch of his lifetime. Sourav, who until then was playing an excellent knock of almost ten boundaries of his score of 51, stood his ground. Things couldn’t get worser for Sourav and India, as Mark Benson, the umpire consulted Ricky Ponting who was at second slip to make the decision. Up goes Ponting’s finger and Benson follows suit.
No umpires in the cricketing world would forget the existence of third umpire (maybe he was sleeping) and consult a fielder in the field who was among the team that made the appeal. Maybe Ponting had joined as an apprentice to Mark Benson. Even if there is such rule framed by the Aussies then that fielders could be consulted, there are three reasons that Ganguly deserved to stay,
It was Michael Clarke who caught the one-pitch catch. It was the same guy who refused to leave the ground when he clearly edged the ball to first slip during the same test match.
It was Ricky Ponting who was consulted to decide the wicket, who himself stood ground after clearly edging the ball to the Indian wicketkeeper earlier during the test match. See Bad Umpiring decision no 1.
It was Ricky Ponting again, who clearly grounded a ball after catching it and appealed for it earlier during the innings. How could he possibly give the better decision when he himself has made the same mistake before?
Why was Harbhajan Singh charged against racism and was banned for three consecutive tests when there was no evidence to prove it so? Sunil Gavaskar in an interview to Channel 9 had quoted Ricky Ponting that “What happened in the field goes off with the field. Lets celebrate the end of the day with a beer”. But the complaints were lodged against Harbhajan Singh. Maybe Ricky Ponting, the favourite victim of Harbhajan Singh, decided that dangerous Singh should be out of the tests and hence has lodged such a complaint.
Anil Kumble, the captain of India, rightly said that only one team was playing on the spirit of the game, after the match. Ricky Ponting has raised an objection to Kumble’s words. Australia can go around saying, “Every umpire has his bad time. Bad umpiring happens sometimes”. It was the same Australia, who after a massive collapse of their innings, lost to India’s meagre achievable total at Mumbai during the year 2004 in a match that didn’t even last for three full days. It was the same Australia that lodged a complaint about the unplayable Test track at Mumbai. If they could complain about poor grounds, why could India not complain about the umpires? After 2-0 down in the series, what chance has India got to get back into the series? Ofcourse it is probable but India has to win both the test matches to level the series but advance thanks to ICC standard umpires who wouldn’t make it happen.
The Cricket Test match between India and Australia held during 2nd to 6th January 2008 is the most controversial match I have ever seen. This would be the most discussed in recent times and it didn’t even spare a normal discussion in one of our classes. It even went onto a small unintentional debate whether the series should continue or should not. One even went up to saying that Ricky Ponting, captain of Australian cricket team, should be sacked. Even Peter Roebuck, former English player, shares the same idea. What led to all these comments? If you had missed out the live action, watch this video!
One or two bad umpiring decisions during a match is acceptable. But what happens when there were so many bad umpiring decisions that could decide the fate of the match and also lead to many controversies? Lets see the list of bad umpiring in that match.
Ricky Ponting tries to hit a ball that was going down the leg side and nicks it clearly to the Indian wicket keeper Mahendra Singh Dhoni. Even if the umpire hadn’t heard the nick, Ricky Ponting surely would’ve known that he had, so why doesn’t he walk away on his own, as even his own teammate Gilchrist does it himself and also advises others to? Ricky Ponting was on 17 runs then. He then went on to make 55 before he was given lbw (which was another wrong decision).
Ricky Ponting was given lbw when he had scored 55. If you could see in the video, it clearly hit the bat before brushing the pads.
Andrew Symonds would be the first ever batsman in International Cricket to be given four chances of batting. As an editor of CricInfo has said that even a shopkeeper in a nearby street could’ve heard Symonds nick to Mahendra Singh Dhoni. Even Virender Sehwag would’ve forgiven Billy Bowden for giving him out wrongly during Australia tour of India 2004, but Ishant Sharma would not forgive Steve Bucknor for this wrong decision that went in favour of Symonds.
The second time Symonds was given not out was when Dhoni stumped Symonds off the ball of Kumble. Even when the third umpire was called to make the decision, he was given not out, even when the replay clearly shows that the batsman is out. On what basis was the decision given in favour of the batsman? Even the third umpire had made a mistake.
The third time, a similar type of appeal, but this time bowled by Harbhajan Singh. But this time Steve Bucknor, the umpire did not even cause any trouble for the third umpire but gave the batsman not out, when the foot of Symonds was clearly out of the crease. Not to forget, after all these not outs (two before when he had reached 50), Symonds went on to make 165 raising the Australian score that had been damaged very badly when the Australian top order collapsed.
Wasim Jaffer was clean bowled off a NO-ball. Its either the umpire was too lazy or had a backbone problem or had a row with Jaffer the day before.
Next is the worst (worst comparatively), when Dravid was given caught behind out by Steve Bucknor when the bat was nowhere near the ball. Neither were the gloves. Dravid, fondly called as the Wall of Indian cricket team, was building on a good innings when he was adjudged out wrongly. This was a major blow to the Indian batting.
Sourav Ganguly edged a ball to Michael Clarke at third slip, who, supposed to be a great fielder (Australia calls themselves so), catches it after the ball pitched near his hand and worst grounded the ball after catching it. Worst, he began celebrating as if he has taken the best catch of his lifetime. Sourav, who until then was playing an excellent knock of almost ten boundaries of his score of 51, stood his ground. Things couldn’t get worser for Sourav and India, as Mark Benson, the umpire consulted Ricky Ponting who was at second slip to make the decision. Up goes Ponting’s finger and Benson follows suit.
No umpires in the cricketing world would forget the existence of third umpire (maybe he was sleeping) and consult a fielder in the field who was among the team that made the appeal. Maybe Ponting had joined as an apprentice to Mark Benson. Even if there is such rule framed by the Aussies then that fielders could be consulted, there are three reasons that Ganguly deserved to stay,
It was Michael Clarke who caught the one-pitch catch. It was the same guy who refused to leave the ground when he clearly edged the ball to first slip during the same test match.
It was Ricky Ponting who was consulted to decide the wicket, who himself stood ground after clearly edging the ball to the Indian wicketkeeper earlier during the test match. See Bad Umpiring decision no 1.
It was Ricky Ponting again, who clearly grounded a ball after catching it and appealed for it earlier during the innings. How could he possibly give the better decision when he himself has made the same mistake before?
Why was Harbhajan Singh charged against racism and was banned for three consecutive tests when there was no evidence to prove it so? Sunil Gavaskar in an interview to Channel 9 had quoted Ricky Ponting that “What happened in the field goes off with the field. Lets celebrate the end of the day with a beer”. But the complaints were lodged against Harbhajan Singh. Maybe Ricky Ponting, the favourite victim of Harbhajan Singh, decided that dangerous Singh should be out of the tests and hence has lodged such a complaint.
Anil Kumble, the captain of India, rightly said that only one team was playing on the spirit of the game, after the match. Ricky Ponting has raised an objection to Kumble’s words. Australia can go around saying, “Every umpire has his bad time. Bad umpiring happens sometimes”. It was the same Australia, who after a massive collapse of their innings, lost to India’s meagre achievable total at Mumbai during the year 2004 in a match that didn’t even last for three full days. It was the same Australia that lodged a complaint about the unplayable Test track at Mumbai. If they could complain about poor grounds, why could India not complain about the umpires? After 2-0 down in the series, what chance has India got to get back into the series? Ofcourse it is probable but India has to win both the test matches to level the series but advance thanks to ICC standard umpires who wouldn’t make it happen.
The Cricket Test match between India and Australia held during 2nd to 6th January 2008 is the most controversial match I have ever seen. This would be the most discussed in recent times and it didn’t even spare a normal discussion in one of our classes. It even went onto a small unintentional debate whether the series should continue or should not. One even went up to saying that Ricky Ponting, captain of Australian cricket team, should be sacked. Even Peter Roebuck, former English player, shares the same idea. What led to all these comments? If you had missed out the live action, watch this video!
One or two bad umpiring decisions during a match is acceptable. But what happens when there were so many bad umpiring decisions that could decide the fate of the match and also lead to many controversies? Lets see the list of bad umpiring in that match.
Ricky Ponting tries to hit a ball that was going down the leg side and nicks it clearly to the Indian wicket keeper Mahendra Singh Dhoni. Even if the umpire hadn’t heard the nick, Ricky Ponting surely would’ve known that he had, so why doesn’t he walk away on his own, as even his own teammate Gilchrist does it himself and also advises others to? Ricky Ponting was on 17 runs then. He then went on to make 55 before he was given lbw (which was another wrong decision).
Ricky Ponting was given lbw when he had scored 55. If you could see in the video, it clearly hit the bat before brushing the pads.
Andrew Symonds would be the first ever batsman in International Cricket to be given four chances of batting. As an editor of CricInfo has said that even a shopkeeper in a nearby street could’ve heard Symonds nick to Mahendra Singh Dhoni. Even Virender Sehwag would’ve forgiven Billy Bowden for giving him out wrongly during Australia tour of India 2004, but Ishant Sharma would not forgive Steve Bucknor for this wrong decision that went in favour of Symonds.
The second time Symonds was given not out was when Dhoni stumped Symonds off the ball of Kumble. Even when the third umpire was called to make the decision, he was given not out, even when the replay clearly shows that the batsman is out. On what basis was the decision given in favour of the batsman? Even the third umpire had made a mistake.
The third time, a similar type of appeal, but this time bowled by Harbhajan Singh. But this time Steve Bucknor, the umpire did not even cause any trouble for the third umpire but gave the batsman not out, when the foot of Symonds was clearly out of the crease. Not to forget, after all these not outs (two before when he had reached 50), Symonds went on to make 165 raising the Australian score that had been damaged very badly when the Australian top order collapsed.
Wasim Jaffer was clean bowled off a NO-ball. Its either the umpire was too lazy or had a backbone problem or had a row with Jaffer the day before.
Next is the worst (worst comparatively), when Dravid was given caught behind out by Steve Bucknor when the bat was nowhere near the ball. Neither were the gloves. Dravid, fondly called as the Wall of Indian cricket team, was building on a good innings when he was adjudged out wrongly. This was a major blow to the Indian batting.
Sourav Ganguly edged a ball to Michael Clarke at third slip, who, supposed to be a great fielder (Australia calls themselves so), catches it after the ball pitched near his hand and worst grounded the ball after catching it. Worst, he began celebrating as if he has taken the best catch of his lifetime. Sourav, who until then was playing an excellent knock of almost ten boundaries of his score of 51, stood his ground. Things couldn’t get worser for Sourav and India, as Mark Benson, the umpire consulted Ricky Ponting who was at second slip to make the decision. Up goes Ponting’s finger and Benson follows suit.
No umpires in the cricketing world would forget the existence of third umpire (maybe he was sleeping) and consult a fielder in the field who was among the team that made the appeal. Maybe Ponting had joined as an apprentice to Mark Benson. Even if there is such rule framed by the Aussies then that fielders could be consulted, there are three reasons that Ganguly deserved to stay,
It was Michael Clarke who caught the one-pitch catch. It was the same guy who refused to leave the ground when he clearly edged the ball to first slip during the same test match.
It was Ricky Ponting who was consulted to decide the wicket, who himself stood ground after clearly edging the ball to the Indian wicketkeeper earlier during the test match. See Bad Umpiring decision no 1.
It was Ricky Ponting again, who clearly grounded a ball after catching it and appealed for it earlier during the innings. How could he possibly give the better decision when he himself has made the same mistake before?
Why was Harbhajan Singh charged against racism and was banned for three consecutive tests when there was no evidence to prove it so? Sunil Gavaskar in an interview to Channel 9 had quoted Ricky Ponting that “What happened in the field goes off with the field. Lets celebrate the end of the day with a beer”. But the complaints were lodged against Harbhajan Singh. Maybe Ricky Ponting, the favourite victim of Harbhajan Singh, decided that dangerous Singh should be out of the tests and hence has lodged such a complaint.
Anil Kumble, the captain of India, rightly said that only one team was playing on the spirit of the game, after the match. Ricky Ponting has raised an objection to Kumble’s words. Australia can go around saying, “Every umpire has his bad time. Bad umpiring happens sometimes”. It was the same Australia, who after a massive collapse of their innings, lost to India’s meager achievable total at Mumbai during the year 2004 in a match that didn’t even for three full days. It was the same Australia that lodged a complaint about the unplayable Test track at Mumbai. If they could complain about poor grounds, why could India not complain about the umpires? After 2-0 down in the series, what chance has India got to get back into the series? Ofcourse it is probable but India has to win both the test matches to level the series but advance thanks to ICC standard umpires, who wouldn’t make it happen.
