The poor quality of domestic umpires was exposed once again in the ongoing Indian Premier League (IPL) 2021 when unheralded TV umpire Krishnamachari Srinivasan failed to spot a clear spike on his screen after Royal Challengers Bangalore (RCB) opener Devdutt Padikkal sneaked a googly from Punjab Kings (PBKS) leg-spinner Ravi Bishnoi to wicketkeeper KL Rahul behind the stumps.
It all happened in the eighth over of the first innings when Padikkal went for a reverse sweep but was caught behind. The on-field umpire KN Ananthapadmanabhan shut down the appeal made by Punjab players, and later the decision was sent upstairs for a review.
While the snicko showed a clear spike off the gloves, Srinivasan who looked edgy and under-confident while making his decision, to everyone’s surprise ruled the batsman ‘not out’.
Padikkal, batting on 35 at that moment, went on add five more runs to his total while Punjab lost the match by six runs.
PBKS skipper Lokesh Rahul got angry after the TV official made his call and even talked to Ananthapadmanabhan about how the spike was overlooked.
In the meantime, Bollywood actress Saiyami Kher hilariously trolled the third umpire for making such a poor decision.
“Sofa so good… (the 3rd umpires this IPL def mustn’t be feeling the same),” Saiyami captioned her social media post.
Sofa so good…
(the 3rd umpires this IPL def mustn’t be feeling the same) pic.twitter.com/v5abHdhUMv— Saiyami Kher (@SaiyamiKher) October 3, 2021
There were also calls for TV umpire’s “sacking” from former cricketers, including Kris Srikkanth and Scott Styris, who termed the error “unforgivable”.
“Terrible umpiring, mistakes like that is unforgivable with so much technology and help these days,” Srikkanth tweeted.
Terrible umpiring, mistakes like that is unforgivable with so much technology and help these days! #RCBvsPBKS #IPL2021
— Kris Srikkanth (@KrisSrikkanth) October 3, 2021
“Sack the 3rd umpire immediately. What a joke,” wrote Styris.
Sack the 3rd umpire immediately #SelectDugout
What a joke!
— Scott Styris (@scottbstyris) October 3, 2021