The former Indian opener Kris Srikkanth is not very impressed with the standard of umpiring in the ongoing IPL and he is of the view that small, little mistakes by the umpires at the crucial junctures of the games lead to big outcomes, which shouldn’t be happening.
Srikkanth has suggested that strong personalities should be appointed as match referees who can intervene at the right time and can overturn completely wrong umpiring decisions which have the potential of turning the outcome of the game.
Kris Srikkanth was probably not happy with the decision that the New Zealand umpire Chris Gaffney made regarding a wide ball in the 19th over of LSG’s innings against RCB yesterday, when LSG required 34 off 2 overs with Marcus Stoinis and Jason Holder at the crease.
Marcus Stoinis was on strike and although he shuffled a little bit towards off stump, the ball was so far wide that there was no doubt in anyone’s mind that it should have been called a wide ball.
But Gaffney, for some reason, decided not to call it a wide and provided the reasoning that since the batsman shuffled, the wide line moved with him as well and it was not a wide ball.
Pay attention to the standard of umpiring in IPL: Kris Srikkanth
As Stoinis realised that the umpire was a bit liberal on the wide line which was used as a deliberate tactic by RCB to keep the ball away from Stoinis’s arc, he moved further towards the off stump the next ball and tried to scoop the ball over fine leg, but unfortunately, he ended up smashing the ball onto his own stumps, rather than scooping it.
The Aussie allrounder was furious with what he did as his wicket at that stage clearly meant that LSG fell significantly behind in the game, even though Jason Holder was at the other end.
Kris Srikkanth, at the end of the game, felt that the umpiring decisions, like the one Chris Gaffney made, can change games at times and the IPL governing council should pay attention to the standard of umpiring and decision making in the IPL.
What is happening with the umpiring @IPL , it's quite pathetic and small bad decisions lead to big outcomes! Wake up and put some people who actually can be a ref! #RCBvsLSG
Advertisement— Kris Srikkanth (@KrisSrikkanth) April 19, 2022
