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Michael Atherton has called out Ravindra Jadeja for ignoring an umpire during the Lord’s Test, highlighting diminished umpire authority.
Ravindra Jadeja was left stranded as India were bowled out for 170. (AP Photo)
Former England cricketer and popular broadcaster Michael Atherton has said Ravindra Jadeja ‘completely ignored’ one of the umpires when asked to hurry up with his drinks break during the Lord’s Test of the Anderson-Tendulkar Trophy. Atherton cited it as an example of what he felt was the diminished authority of the umpires who were struggling to control various high-emotion moments in the match.
From Shubman Gill’s finger-pointing and chest-matching with England batters, to Zak Crawley and Akash Deep’s probable fake injuries to waste time and shoulder-barges and send-offs between several bowlers and batters, the Test was all heated up. Add to that the controversy around the condition of the Duke’s ball and the umpires’ genuine mistakes for some on-field calls, and it became a mess.
“The focus is more on the umpires than the players, for the umpires to just get a grip. I don’t know where the diminishing of umpires’ authority comes from. Maybe it’s the post-DRS thing,” Atherton told Sky Sports Cricket, referring to the Decision Review System.
Since DRS’s extensive adoption in the early 2010s, the players can now challenge the umpire’s decisions on LBW and catches. In T20 leagues like the IPL, it has extended to wides and no-balls.
While DRS has made the game fairer by using technologies and helped mitigate human bias, Atherton feels the game needs to overcome this drawback to become quicker.
“Pre-DRS, the umpires were almost omnipotent. Since DRS, maybe that authority has just withered away. There was one point where Jaddu was having a drink, and the umpire was pointing towards the watch and was telling him to get on with it. And he just completely ignored him! So I think there’s room for the game to be sped up a bit, without compromising the quality,” he said.
England won the Lord’s Test on the final day. They lead the series 2-1.
Considering how it has gone so far, the heated emotions from Lord’s will almost certainly eke out to Manchester, with the Old Trafford stadium hosting the fourth Test from July 23.
A team of reporters, writers and editors brings you news, analyses, features, live scores, results, stats and everything that’s cricket from all over the globe. Follow @cricketnext
A team of reporters, writers and editors brings you news, analyses, features, live scores, results, stats and everything that’s cricket from all over the globe. Follow @cricketnext
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