Gujarat captain Parthiv Patel has called upon the Board of Control for Cricket in India (BCCI) to resolve the issues with the appointment of umpires in domestic cricket.
Parthiv was fined 20% of his match fees for his outburst against the umpire after being adjudged caught at forward short-leg during the Irani Cup match against Rest of India.
“I obviously cannot talk anything about my decision but overall, it is very unfortunate to see that there are a few guys who are making so many mistakes and you see them in big games,” Parthiv said after Gujarat’s loss. “It’s unfortunate to see guys who keep on making mistakes and you see them going on (officiating) in big games like a semifinal, final and Irani Cup.”
He didn’t make any reference to umpire Virender Sharma, whose doubtful decision to rule Parthiv out on the third day of the Irani Cup match received a spontaneous response of “ Umpiring karte kyun ho (why do you even officiate)?” from the batsman. However, Parthiv’s statement on Tuesday wasn’t only aimed at Sharma, the former batsman from Himachal Pradesh.
Appointments of match officials — including umpires and match referees — have traditionally been based on the favours doled out by the powers that be in the BCCI.
Even in the league stage of the Ranji Trophy, the umpiring standards were ordinary.
To add to the teams’ misery, for the last couple of seasons, the BCCI has even stopped seeking a report from the captains of both the teams at the end of a First-Class game, which also addressed umpiring issues, if any.
What the teams can hope for is to raise the issues in the captains and coaches’ conclave during the off-season.
