Joe Root, England skipper was extremely displeased with a couple of decisions from the third umpire on Day 1 of the third Test against England which didn’t go in England’s favour.
The 1st day of the third Test between India and England at the newly built revamped Narendra Modi stadium became the center of some debatable umpiring decisions.
Joe Root And Chris Silverwood Spoke To ICC Match Referee Javagal Srinath After The End Of 1st Day’s Play
After all-rounder Ben Stokes’ dropped catch involving Shubman Gill stirred a controversy, England skipper Joe Root was left infuriated with the third umpire’s decision to not check a stumping incident involving an Indian batsman Rohit Sharma from multiple angles.
Joe Root as well as England head coach Chris Silverwood spoke to the ICC match referee, Javagal Srinath, after the end of the first day’s play after seeing two questionable decisions going India’s way without the third umpire giving enough time and attention.
The third umpire on duty was Chettithody Shamshuddin who appeared to have reached his conclusions into the two debatable matters quite quickly without spending much time in assessing all angles involved. A frustrated Joe Root could also be heard asking for more consistency from the umpires on the stump microphone as only one camera angle was used to make up the decision despite the availability of more.
“The England captain and head coach spoke with the match referee after play,” an England team spokesperson told ESPNCricinfo.
“The captain and head coach acknowledged the challenges the umpires faced and asked respectfully that in making any decisions there was consistency in the process. The match referee said the captain was asking the right questions of the umpires.”
Third umpire Chettithody Shamsuddin decided Ben Stokes had grounded a catch at slip after Shubman Gill edged Stuart Broad, while he also determined that Rohit Sharma had grounded his foot as Ben Foakes aimed to complete a stumping off Jack Leach.
Zak Crawley: Frustrations Lie With Not Checking More Thoroughly
Zak Crawley, England’s best batsman in the first innings with a half-century to his name, cited the example of lower-order tailender batsman Jack Leach where a low catch was checked by 5 to 6 different angles by the third umpire but there was no such case in the incidents involving Indian batsmen Rohit Sharma and Shubman Gill.
“When we batted, Jack Leach had a similar sort of one [low catch, similar to the Stokes dismissal] where it didn’t quite carry and it seemed like they looked at it from five or six different angles,” Crawley said. “When we were fielding it seemed like they looked at it from one angle.
“That’s where the frustrations lie. I can’t say whether they were out or not out, but I think the frustrations lie with not checking more thoroughly.”
Due to the Covid-19 pandemic, the unavailability of neutral umpires for bilateral contests has become a much-talked-about issue. The apex board, hence, decided to give teams an extra review per innings but certain issues like the ones in Ahmedabad in the pink-ball Test continue to arise.
Apart from Zak Crawley’s 53, the other batsmen didn’t contribute much with Joe Root’s 17 next best. For India, Rohit Sharma is unbeaten on 57 while Shubman Gill, Cheteshwar Pujara, and Virat Kohli were men to be dismissed.
India ended Day 1 at 99 for 3, training England’s total by only 13 runs as opener Rohit Sharma is batting on 57 not out. Left-arm spinner Axar Patel picked up a 6-wicket haul while Ravichandran Ashwin picked up 3 wickets as the Indian spin duo ran through the England batting unit.