The third umpire’s decision to not give Tim Paine run out in name of the benefit of the doubt during the Boxing Day Test match between India and Australia has further sparked the debate that neutral umpires should travel in Tests. India’s premier pacer Jasprit Bumrah also feels that it is unfortunate that there are no neutral umpires. However, he was also quick to admit that neither his side nor he is focusing on that.
In a try of taking a quick single, Cameron Green had almost sacrificed his captain’s wicket, Tim Paine. The replay showed that Paine was in line but the umpire checked on different angles to get further clarity. An angle from the other side showed Paine’s bat might have slid over the line.
The third umpire Paul Wilson was heard saying he didn’t have any evidence to conclude that Paine’s bat was “on the wrong side of the line”, and ruled him not-out. Captain Ajinkya Rahane was also seen having a chat with the on-field umpires but the third umpire’s decision was not reverted.
But after the decision, there was a huge cry out on social media and even former cricketers were quick to speak against the decision, which could have ended Australia’s innings earlier.
These are the things that we can’t control: Jasprit Bumrah
At the press conference, Jasprit Bumrah was asked if he, in the context of this appeal, agreed with West Indies Test captain Jason Holder‘s recent sentiment that if players were travelling for Tests, neutral umpires could too.
“Look, these are the things that we can’t control,” Jasprit Bumrah said. “I understand that the situations are difficult and all of these things are out of our hands. I try to not focus on things that we can’t control but yeah it is unfortunate that the umpires are not allowed to travel. But it is something that I don’t have any power of changing. We try to focus on things that we can change. That is the only thing our team is focusing on. If a decision goes our way or if it doesn’t, we have to look forward and we focus on the next ball.”
Meanwhile, Australia has been bundled out for 195 runs after Ravichandran Ashwin and Jasprit Burah notched three and four wickets respectively.