It has been a week since the Cricket World Cup final between England vs New Zealand is over. Though it was one of the greatest matches ever played in the ODI history; but it will also be remembered for many mistakes, wrong decisions, and blunders by the umpires Kumar Dharamasena and Marais Erasmus. There were many controversial decisions by the umpires at the cricketing field. The match ended in a tie, Super over end in a tie, and England won the match on the basis of boundary count. A few days back, the former umpire and also the member of the MCC laws sub-committee Simon Taufel told that umpires have made an error of judgment while applying cricket laws. England should have been granted five runs instead of six during an overthrow in the last over.
In this case, as per the law, when Martin Guptill released the ball, Ben Stokes and Adil Rashid had not crossed each other for the second run. Simon Taufel explained that then England would have required 4 runs in the remaining 2 balls, instead of 3. And, more importantly, it would have been Adil Rashid on strike instead of in-form batsman Ben Stokes.
After a week, the Sri Lankan umpire Kumar Dharamasena finally breaks his silence and told he did not have the luxury to television replays which could show that the batsmen have not crossed. Kumar Dharamasena told,
“I agree that there was an error of judgment when I see it on TV replays now”.
He further added,
“But we did not have the luxury of TV replays at the ground and I do not regret the decision I made,”.
Dharamasena told, he signaled six after consulting the other match officials, which includes another umpire, Marais Erasmus and the match referee.
Wellbeing a cricket fan, what we believe is that was the biggest moment of the World Cup final. That one decision might have changed the Winner, broke billion hearts, and spoiled the spirit of the game and shattered the dreams of many players. We do understand that human does mistakes. But looking at such a crunch situation at the game, he should have been more active in the field. That is your job to give fair decisions. Saying that you don’t have TV replays, we agree. But depending totally on TV replays, also don’t justify you as an umpire. When you are on the field, you should have been more careful; rather than just giving lame excuses after the game got over.
Because of this judgmental error, the match went for a Super Over. Jimmy Neesham coach died during Super Over. And, Kumar Dharamasena is saying, he has no regrets, really unhappy to hear this from him.
What do you say about this statement from Kumar Dharamasena? Do you people think his statement justify his mistake? Let us know in the comments below.
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