ICC Cricket World Cup-2019: When the umpire wanted Gayle to go!
The above headline is not an accusation, it is just an observation based on hard facts. However, this observation reflects negatively on umpiring standards at the world’s biggest cricket event. We had recently seen ridiculous refereeing mistakes in Indian Premiere League-2019. The ICC Cricket World Cup can hardly be compared to the previous one, and we fervently hope that the standards will improve as this was only the first week of the tournament.
It all happened in the tenth match of the 2019 ICC Cricket World Cup at Trent Bridge, England, between Australia and the West Indies. Winning the West Indies toss put Australia up to bat, dropped them to 79 for 5 thanks to fiery spells from Thomas and Cortrell that reminded us of the likes of Malcolm Marshall & Co of yore, and since they didn’t, the West Indies dropped it. go. allowing the Australians to amass 288. Still, it was not an impossible target, and the West Indies seemed to be sailing very well with big-armed Hope and Heitmyer. Again, as the old Caribbean ways die hard, the hitters snatched defeat from victory, preferring to only go after the big shots without any pressure. And, they lost by a mother 15 races. Now, back to our point of concern.
In the third over of the match alone, Australian pacemaker Starc appealed for a catch from behind against Chris Gayle, and was upheld by the referee. Gayle was never known to have shown disrespect or distrust of refereeing in his surprisingly aggressive career, and he never sulked after adverse decisions. Therefore, when he shook his head that there was no snick and asked for the DRS, he was very credible and genuine. The review showed that the ball never touched the bat, and in fact could have grazed the stump without dislodging the bails. Gayle won the DRS. In the same over, Starc again appealed for an LBW, with the umpire immediately confirming it, while this writer watching the live TV broadcast could clearly see that the ball was deflecting off the leg stump. Gayle raised her eyebrows in astonishment and ordered the second DRS. The review showed how the ball missed the leg stump by quite a large margin. Gayle won the second DRS from him and also opened up with impressive shots from him. Maybe some important people sulked.
The referee and Starc combined again. The appeal was for a BPN with the referee immediately raising his finger. This time, Gayle seemed a bit taken aback and she ordered the third DRS from her. The review was not lost once again, but since the ball was on the line and appeared to have hit the upper edge of the leg stump, the referee’s decision had to be upheld. And Gayle left. She was allowed to score only 20 runs.
And then came the real explosion. Subsequent replays showed that the ball before he took Gayle out was a no-ball for a long jump, but the umpire himself never seemed to notice. Therefore, the ball that got Gayle out was ultimately a free throw ball where no batter could get off.
The above remarks are not intended to take credit away from Starc, who had a five-wicket haul thanks to consistent pace, line and length, and Australian captain Finch, who displayed a thoroughly professional approach that made the West Indies They will play into your plans.
The other highlights of the first week, positively, included England, Bangladesh and India beating a beleaguered South Africa in their respective opening matches, where mention must be made of Bangladesh’s aggressiveness and quality of both batting and bowling; West Indies beat Pakistan, and then Pakistan beat heavy favorites England showing precision batting, bowling and fielding, and the fact that no one mentioned why England offered Pakistan the batting chance on a layup, as the pitch was full of runs and the hosts were full of confidence; plucky Bangladesh lost in a tight match against New Zealand and Sri Lanka managed to record their first victory over Afghanistan by a narrow margin.
With the round-robin league up and running, the ICC Cricket World Cup-2019 promises to be a fierce battle between nations defending their national pride and beliefs. Each of the ten teams is capable of making a story script; South Africa and Sri Lanka cannot yet be ruled out. We just hope that no cricketer suffers like Chris Gayle in the exciting days of the tournament ahead. India has big games ahead: against Australia on June 9, against New Zealand on June 13 and the last one against Pakistan on June 16.