Hayter: Umpire errors... they’re just part of the game!
chettithody Shamshuddin. Remember the name. It may not have escaped your attention that this is the umpire who, according to observers ranging from England captain Eoin Morgan to several national newspaper headline writers to countless social media experts – and coach Trevor Bayliss and his No.2 Paul Farbrace in between – did the tourists out of their second T20 contest against India in Nagpur and with it the chance to wrap up the three-match series before they suffered a crushing defeat in the decider in Bangaluru.
With England requiring just eight runs from the final over of a low-scoring but absorbing tussle, bowled by Jasprit Bumrah, Morgan called Shamshuddin’s decision to give Joe Root out lbw from the first ball “a hammer blow”, expressed “extreme frustration” and further suggested: “If this was a World Cup game, say you went out or lost a final, you would be spewing.”
In the wake of England’s failure to reach their target of 145 from the remaining five balls, and on top of the official’s earlier refusal to give out Virat Kohli to Chris Jordan, Shamshuddin’s decision-making, all done, crucially, without the benefit or assistance of DRS, was described on Sky TV back home as “shocking”.
Neither Bayliss nor Farbrace made any attempt to hide their anger when they exchanged words with the ump as the two teams were shaking hands on the pitch at the end of the match.
It was confirmed instead that England would be making a complaint to the ICC referee Andy Pycroft. And the hits just kept on coming. First, the Times of London told us: “Umpire error costs England series victory” and highlighted “two umpiring howlers that kept India in the series”.
The following day news emerged that Shamshuddin had been appointed by the Indian Board for the match in Nagpur as a replacement for CK Nandan even though he had only been back in India for 24 hours after umpiring Australia’s ODI against Pakistan three days earlier, the clear implication being that, as his body-clock would have been set at 2am at the time he made that final fateful decision against Root, he must surely have been close to nodding off.
And then, slam-dunk, “a source close to the running of the game” let it be known that Pycroft had not only voiced doubts over whether Shamshuddin was up to the job following his long flight from Down Under, but that he would rather have had Nitin Menon make his debut in the middle with Shamshuddin as the third umpire.
That remarkably well-informed source also insisted Pycroft would not be meting out any punishment to Morgan, not even a warning, for what, to the less well-informed, looked suspiciously like a clear breach of regulations regarding the criticising of match officials.
With one view, one split second and one chance, without the option of asking the batsman to help him out, he has to make the call on his own
And make what you will of what BCCI TV commentator Sanjay Manjrekar informed viewers after the first ball of the final match in Bengaluru. “Shamshuddin was nominated as umpire for this match,” the former Indian Test batsman told us, “but I’ve been told he’s unwell and couldn’t take the field. Well enough, however, to have acted as third umpire.”
What, you may ask, did Mr Shamshuddin have to say about all this? And you can keep on asking because, of course, under ICC regulations, he is not permitted to comment. So, on his behalf, may I offer a few thoughts that, while he was having his professional competence called into question by all and sundry this week, might just have wandered through his mind about the incident that England believe cost them victory. An inside-edge onto the pad, as was the case with Root against Bumrah, and which the gizmos that would have been available to DRS clearly picked up, has always been one of the hardest things for the naked eye to spot.
From where the umpire is standing, particularly with pace bowing and when an attacking shot is being attempted, all but the most obvious deviations in line and trajectory are nigh on impossible to spot.
For that reason, umpires must rely just as much on what they hear as what they see, easy enough some of the time, but not quite so straightforward when the match is being played in front of a highly vocal packed house in Nagpur. Without a strong indication that the ball has hit the bat, either through sight or sound, the umpire must assume that it hasn’t. And it is not a matter of failing to allow the batsman the mythical benefit of the doubt when, in your perfectly justifiable opinion, there is no doubt to give him the benefit of.
Forensic examination of the incident, using all the available technology including ultra-edge, freeze-framing and the Star Trek transporter room, showed anyone watching on TV that, indeed, the ball did hit Root’s bat before it smacked into the pad.
But without it, the umpire has one view, one split-second and one chance and without the option of asking the batsman to help him out, he has to make this call on his own.
“Part and parcel of doing the job is being able to cope with the pressure and make good decisions more often than not,” said Morgan, clearly demonstrating that he thought Shamshuddin was unable to cope with the pressure.
What those who refuse to join the witchhunt against Shamshuddin might also be thinking, however, is that while, taken in isolation, his honest mistake caused England to lose Root; it may not have been the only reason they did not win.
After having put England in front with 38 from 27 balls in a stand of 52 with Root that brought the chase down to 28 from 20 balls, Ben Stokes might afterwards have reconsidered his heave against Ashish Nehra’s clever slower ball.
For Root, with the memory of Jos Buttler taking 12 off the last three balls of the 19th over still fresh, a single off the first ball of the 20th to get Buttler on strike to make seven from five deliveries was surely a better option than trying to smash a straight ball over midwicket, particularly as Root himself is acutely aware of his limitations when it comes to power-hitting at the death.
And what also seems to have been somewhat obscured by the kerfuffle is just how brilliantly Bumrah closed out the match, foxing Buttler with a superb slower off-cutter followed by a quicker one that castled him, delivering an almost perfect final over in which he took two wickets for two runs to secure victory.
As for Shamshuddin, no umpire should have to put up with the battering he has had to suffer this week and all the fuss and nonsense could, and should, have been avoided in either one of two ways.
First, since the technology is in place to assist umpires in avoiding honest mistakes, it should have been used. Second, as in this case, if DRS is not employed, when and if the umpire does drop one, he should not be blamed for costing England a match they should have won.
Chettithody Shamshuddin. Remember the name; an umpire who made an honest and accidental mistake and found himself pilloried as an incompetent jet-lagged buffoon.