England skipper Joe Root and head coach Chris Silverwood have approached the match referee to get ‘consistency’ regarding the third umpire’s decisions on Day 1 of the ongoing third Test at the Narendra Modi Stadium in Ahmedabad.
Both Root and Silverwood moved towards the International Cricket Council (ICC) match referee Javagal Srinath after the end of the opening day’s play concerning certain verdicts that were made quickly according to the visitors and eventually went in India’s favour.
The first decision was about Indian opener Shubman Gill’s catch off Stuart Broad bowling in the slips taken by Ben Stokes. After checking the replay, the third umpire found out that Stokes had grassed the catch.
In another episode, a stumping by Ben Foakes didn’t result in a wicket as according to third umpire Rohit Sharma had grounded his foot at the right time. The visitors looked unhappy and claimed that both the decisions were rather made quickly without taking the help of other camera angles.
“The England captain and head coach spoke with the match referee after play. The captain and head coach acknowledged the challenges the umpires faced and asked respectfully that there was consistency in the process of making any decisions. The match referee said the captain was asking the right questions of the umpires,” said an England team spokesperson as quoted by ESPNcricinfo.
English opener Zak Crawley also expressed displeasure after several umpiring decisions didn’t go in favour of the touring side on Day 1 of the third Test.
Crawley stated that his team needed that bit of luck as they were already behind in the ongoing day-night Test. The 23-year-old wanted England to improve the performance on Thursday (Day 2) so that they don’t require the 50-50 chances going in their way.
“Yes, it was very frustrating as we were behind in the game, and we needed that 50-50 to go our way. And it when in their way today. It is frustrating as we desperately want to win, and it doesn’t help in our chances of winning. Hopefully, we play better tomorrow and don’t require that 50-50,” Crawley said at the virtual press conference.
