Ind vs Eng: Umpiring howlers on Rahane, Rohit and Pant dismissals bring wittiest replies from Twitterati

The on-field umpires officiating the second Test between India and England gave some ordinary decisions. But the thing that surprised the people the most was the decision making of the third umpire, who instead of looking at the reviews fully and from all angles, chose to make decisions in an arbitrary fashion. 

This style of umpiring didn’t go down well with Twitterati who punched the decision-maker left, right and centre with their witty replies.  

Two decision in question were a stumping of Rohit Sharma where the back leg of Rohit seemed to be on line but the umpire declared it not out even before confirming it from different angles. 

The second one was a catch of Ajinkya Rahane. Rahane was caught at the short leg by Ollie Pope off Jack Leach. The ball did not hit the bat first, but ricochet off the pad and hit back of the gloves to be caught by the fielder. The original decision was not out. England reviewed it and the third umpire did not bother to check the part where the ball ricocheted, he just checked the first impact and the Leg Before Wicket, declaring it not out. 

The replays clearly showed that Rahane’ gloves touched the ball before being caught by Pope. The worst part about the dismissal was that the umpires, after deciding that England should lose their review, reinstated as Rahane was bowled by Moeen Ali in the very next over. 

The Third decision involving Rishabh Pant was a clear case of misjudgement as the ball past the bat, without making any contact with it and went to the keeper Ben Foakes. Foakes appealed and Pant was given out of a Joe Root delivery. He reviewed and the replays confirmed that there was daylight between bat and ball and the cherry had kissed Pant’s trousers. 

India ended their day at 300 at the loss of six wickets.