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Kumar Dharmasena's Suspicious Hand Gesture Gives Hints At Cheating In IND Vs ENG 5th Test

Anurag Dasgupta

Did Dharmasena cheat? [Source: @mkr4411/x.com] Did Dharmasena cheat? [Source: @mkr4411/x.com]

In Cricket, neutral umpires are placed so that no form of cheating or biased decisions can take place. However, on Thursday, Sri Lankan umpire, Kumar Dharmasena, who was officiating in the fifth Test between India, and England, made a hand gesture, which suggested that he favoured the home side, England.

Over the years, Dharmasena has been known for making correct calls and is normally an astute on-field umpire. But on Day 1 of the Oval Test match, the Sri Lankan made a signal which hinted at a potential cheating incident. 

Did Dharmasena directly helped England in DRS decision?

Josh Tongue, the England seamer, bowled a vicious yorker, which swung back in, and clipped Sai Sudharsan's pad. At first glance, it looked like the ball was going down the leg, but the England side looked interested in taking the DRS call. However, Dharmasena signalled to the home side, that the ball actually clipped the bat, instead of the pad.


He pointed towards his finger, and gave a subtle hint that the ball hit the inside edge, and eventually, England opted against taking the review. Normally, the teams get 15 seconds to decide whether to take the DRS or not. However, the on-field umpire made England's life easy by giving them a major hint.

Previous incident when umpires favoured a team

Perhaps the Sydney Test in 2008 is one incident where it genuinely looked as if the umpires favoured the home side, Australia, against India. 8 wrong decisions were given against the visiting Indian side by Mark Benson, and Steve Bucknor. 

Many of the decisions changed the context of the match, as well as the series. Clear outside-edge caught behind decisions went against India, and so much so, that the Asian side lodged a formal complaint against the two umpires.