T. Jafri: Fingers Raised Against Cricket Umpiring?

Despite the fact that Cricket is played in the few countries of the world, but it has made an important place in the games of the world. The game has got an emotional place among the public of those countries where Cricket is played. The countries that have associated themselves with the Cricket for a long time are England, Australia, India, Pakistan, South Africa, New Zealand etc. along with these countries now Sri Lanka, Bangladesh, Kenya & Zimbabwe teams have also started to take part in Cricket. Totally we can say these are the countries where the game of Cricket is being played or being watched or the teams of international level are being prepared.

Among the above countries the matches between India, Pakistan & Australia etc. are known as thrilling because these are the teams that put themselves heart & soul in their games. The electronic media has increased the popularity of the Cricket to the extent that defeats & victories in Cricket are associated with the prestige of that country. Therefore every fan of the Cricket desires that the team of his country should win the crown of victory. But if the players play well & even then they lose the game, then it is only their misfortune & nothing else. In the language of the game, it is called 'Part of the Game'. It seems that some umpires of the Cricket have thought of availing the benefit of this word 'Part of the Game.'

The as wished decisions of the Cricket umpires remained unknown before the modern camera technique but now even the minute movement of any moment happened during the game in the playground can be minutely seen & understood. This is known as action replay in the language of the Cricket telecast. Now the acceptance of the wrong decisions when there is too much modern scientific setup doesn't mean.

Last days a Cricket Match was played between India & Australia in an Australian City Sydney. Australia had won this match by 122 runs. But this match remained controversial because of wrong decisions of the Umpires. As was watched on TV that the Cricket umpires had declared the Australian players not out even those who were in reality out. The accusations were that the umpires in that match Steve Bucknor and his co-umpire were counted with the teams of Australia. Because of wrong decisions, it was heard that people said that the Australian team is playing with 13 players & not 11. Clearly the wrong decisions of the umpires when seen or the screen of the TVs could not be digested by the lovers of the Cricket.

The accusation of the wrong umpiring is not new in Cricket. Often the fingers are raised on wrong decisions, of the umpires in Cricket. But misfortunately, it is seen that usually India becomes the victim because of such wrong decisions. The incident happened in the last days in Australia is also a living example of the same unfortunate decisions. This time, too, the Board for Control of Cricket in India (BCCI) made a strong complaint against the umpires because of the wrong decisions taken against the Cricket team of India. Such complaints were previously also received by the ICC. But there couldn't be any permanent solution for that. That's why the dishonest umpire didn't lose their courage. The umpires like Steve Bucknor didn't pay any attention even to the eye of the camera & went on giving wrong decisions. Their decisions not only harm the sports career of the sportsman but they hurt the emotions of the affected countrymen also. But the analyst associated with this setup usually digest such unfortunate circumstances just saying that it is a part of the game.

In my opinion there should be a permanent solution to this problem. The Cricket experts say that there are two umpires who play the decisive role of making decisions. This saves the traditional glory & originality of the Cricket. On the other side now the modern fans give their argument that at present, the complete view can be watched with the help of the camera & even without the need of the umpires. There is no chance of wrong decision in these circumstances. Both the above arguments are right in themselves. Every game has its own originality, tradition & glory. That must be kept alive. But if the modern techniques of the science are capable of making solution of our mistakes, then it seems no harm in taking its help. ICC should formulate such rules so that the originality & tradition of the Cricket should remain as it is & at the same time there should be no injustice with any player. The umpires should also accept that everybody is liable to make mistake. So the wrong decision by any umpire is not an unnatural event. But if the decision of the camera is accepted by the ICC then such umpires shouldn't take it as a matter of their prestige.

The raising of a finger by an umpire, in the Cricket ground means 'out.' In this way these raised fingers of umpires sometimes may cause one doubt or partiality. ICC should accept that the decisions given by umpires that are accepted by both the parties should be accepted. If any player is in doubt by any expert, then such player should be accepted out only after technical verification. This process should be finished at the earliest & the time consumed in this process should be added in the game time.

If ICC makes the above rules then so called self made decisions will be prevented & the unfortunate countries like India will be saved from the anger of the Cricket umpires.

About the Author: Tanveer Jafri is a columnist based in India.He is related with hundreds of most popular daily news papers/portals in India and abroad. Jafri, Almost writes in the field of communal harmony, world peace, anti communalism, anti terrorism, national integration, national & international politics etc.He is a devoted social activist for world peace, unity, integrity & global brotherhood. Tanveer Jafri is also a member of Haryana Sahitya Academy & Haryana Urdu Academy (state govt. bodies in India). Thousands articles of the author have been published in different newspapers, websites & newsportals throughout the world. He is also a receipent of so many awards in the field of Communal Harmony & other social activities. (Email : tanveerjafriamb_AT_gmail.com )

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