The time may finally be ripe when Bangladesh pushes its case for the universal use of the Umpire’s Decision Review System in light of their recent downturns on their recent tour of Sri Lanka and the ongoing tour in Zimbabwe.
Bangladesh were undeservedly on the receiving end of some dubious and controversial umpiring decisions which might have been overturned had the UDRS been in place.
While the issue was discussed several times in the ICC meetings, they could not come to any decision largely because of India’s opposition. Considering the financial might of the Board of Control for Cricket in India and the major say they have in all cricketing affairs, the other cricketing countries resisted their temptation to put the issue on vote.
The Bangladesh Cricket Board also maintained silence as it did not want to annoy its powerful neighbour, who can survive without UDRS as umpires hardly give any decision against them or at least remain extra cautious during matches involving the country.
The same cannot be said about Bangladesh. The ICC often makes them a guinea pig while introducing new umpires. Even when it appoints experienced umpires, for some reasons unknown they also prefer to stay carefree.
Tony Hill and Billy Bowden, both from New Zealand, were chosen as the neutral umpires for the first Test match between Bangladesh and Zimbabwe at the Harare Sports Club. Some of the duo’s officiating left a lot to be desired and as a consequence, Bangladesh’s luck continued to desert them, not dissimilar to some questionable decisions they received in Sri Lanka.
Although some of the verdicts against the newest Test playing nation might not have been enough to alter the outcome of any game, even then some of the horrendous decisions go a long way in undoing the good work of a batsman or a painstaking spell by a bowler.
The Kiwi pair denied as many as 11 lbw appeals and two caught-behind decisions for Bangladesh in the first innings and no less than 10 leg-before shouts and two caught-behind pleas in the second innings.
Zimbabwe captain Brendan Taylor can consider himself fortunate as he received two favourable decisions in the first and second innings of the first Test. When Taylor was on 116 in the first innings, Bangladesh pace bowler Robiul Islam got one to pitch in the trajectory of the middle stump and the delivery subsequently hit the skipper’s pads. In hindsight, it appeared that Taylor should have been on his way back to the pavilion but Hill thought otherwise.
Taylor also obtained the rub off the green when he was batting on 47 in the second innings. It emerged that the ball might just have kissed his gloves on its way towards wicketkeeper-cum-captain Mushfiqur Rahim off a Sohag Gazi delivery but Bowden turned down the confident appeal.
On top of that, both of Jahirul Islam’s dismissals in the first Test match raised a considerable amount of doubt as he was given out lbw and caught behind in the first and second innings respectively.
It has been quite a while since the tide of unfair decisions has gone against Bangladesh’s cause. Hence the need for the global use of UDRS has become necessary, although its implementation remains a foregone conclusion.
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newagebd
-With New Age input
