Hyderabad : Umpires are considered to be the judge of a cricket match. Any marginal error(s) by them can tilt the match to either side. The colour the match completely rests with them. However, it should be noted that , they too, are human beings. And the human beings are bound to be error prone.
The standard of the umpiring in the ongoing cash rich Indian Premier League has raised a number of eyebrows. The pendulum of the match has swung to the opposite end because of their decisions.
For example , the so called 'Mankaded' controversy that saw Kings XI Punjab skipper Ravichandran Ashwin running Rajasthan Royals' Jos Butler out.
Also the famous no-ball controversy by Mumbai Indians' Lasith Malinga that saw Royal Challengers Bengaluru lose a thrilling match
And now the match between Chennai Super Kings and Rajasthan Royals where a no-ball by Ben Stokes was overruled by Umpire Oxenford . And , that too , in a crucial juncture when CSK needed 8 runs off 3 deliveries. This incident led cucumber cool M. S. Dhoni losing his cool and act opposite his charecteristic feature as he ran straight into the field from the dug-outs to approach the umpires regarding that controversy. This incident led MSD fined 50% of his match fees.It is right that umpires are also human being and they can be error prone. Due to this technology came into force. Which again, sometimes , provide dubious decisions. Inspite of that these umpiring errors have become a regular feature of the game. With the all important world cup knocking at the door, it's high time for the ICC , the game's world governing body, to sit and find ways of eradicating these menaces.
Read : Former cricketers slam Dhoni after MSD loses cool in 100th win
Unfortuntely cricket has lost its golden generation of umpires that included likes of Dickey Bird , David Shepherd , Steve Bucknor , Billy Bowden , Simon Tauffel to name a few.
Time has come for the ICC as well as cricket controlling boards of cricket playing nations to built quality umpires apart from producing quality cricketers.
