If seven out of eight umpiring errors go against a particular team (I am not even considering Lbws here), only a miracle could prevent it from ending up on the losing side. That India did should come as no surprise, but part of the blame must be also be shared by their by now almost predictable fourth innings collapse. That a team which boasts of the Greatest Batting Line-up In The WorldTM should capitulate in the fourth innings with such alarming regularity should be a cause of concern for the team management. Its happened too often now for it to be ignored. Sunil Gavaskar admitted as much during the tea interval on Day 5 at the SCG when he doubted the ability of this Indian team to stick it out for a draw. At that point of time, India had lost only 3 wickets, all legitimate mind you.
However, that does not take anything away from the fact that the umpiring reached its absolute nadir during this match to the extent that you were tempted to call it biased. Its a regular occurrence that umpires do not hear small nicks and edges in the din of packed stadiums, but the healthy edge that ensued from Andrew Symonds' bat could have been heard as far as Bowral and Canberra! And whoever heard of third umpires making such basic mistakes? I mean, if the foot is not grounded, you are out, as simple as that. 'Benefit of doubt' is given to the batsman when there is a 'doubt', in the first place. In Symonds' case, it was clear as daylight that his foot was in the air when the bails were removed.
As if this was not enough, India were really done in by some horrible umpiring after tea. Rahul Dravid was playing the spin of Symonds as it should be done on a fifth day turning pitch, from within the pads. It was clearly visible to the naked eye that bat was nowhere involved. Bucknor keeps coming up with such howlers against India, time and again. And lastly, the less said about Ganguly's decision, the better? For starters, the 'agreement' to take the fielding captain's word for catches was between Ponting and Kumble, not between the umpires and Ponting. If umpires start taking the fielding captain's word for catches, then we might as well dispense with them, and have an all-encompassing 'agreement' for matches, like the one between Ponting and Kumble, where the fielding captain's word will be taken for anything and everything. If there is even an iota of doubt, the third umpire has to be called in. Its high time that all the fancy technology on display be made available to the two men who matter in the middle.
One last word. For people like Nasser Hussain, who claimed that the Indians had lost his 'sympathy', for clamouring for the removal of Bucknor. If one side has lost confidence in an umpire (with some justification), regardless of his perceived ability and standing, how do you expect its bowlers to appeal to that particular umpire for him to make his decisions in the very next match? How are they to be convinced of his impartiality, when recent events have suggested that there is something lacking on that count?
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