BENGALURU: Despite bringing their A game to the fore in Thursday’s IPL match, AB de Villiers and Jasprit Bumrah did not grab the headlines. Rather, umpire Sundaram Ravi became the talking point for missing a no-ball on the last ball of the match.
Captains Virat Kohli and Rohit Sharma were critical of the official, who happens to be India’s best umpire and the country’s lone representative on the ICC Elite Panel.
This incident shifts focus to the standards of umpiring. That Ravi is the lone Indian on the Elite Panel and there was nobody there for many years before him shows that India’s stocks are not high in this department.
Despite producing players of top class and the board becoming richer, this is an area where things have not moved forward.
No domestic season goes without state captains complaining about umpiring. Yet, things remain the same. Overlooking the no-ball was the latest on a long list.
Not that umpires are not well looked after. The top 10 in the country in ‘A’ panel get Rs 40,000 per day for any domestic match. Close to 100 after them receive Rs 30,000 per day. But those in the know reckon that favouritism and lack of accountability act as deterrents.
“India has that robust system, with a number of matches, exposure etc. Unfortunately, there is no system of the best (umpires) getting the chance,” said former international umpire Vinayak Kulkarni. “Those from the powerful associations get the better share. There is no accountability. The system has to be transparent. These days, umpires are more concerned about securing 20-30 days of duty instead of getting better,” added the veteran.
Domestic players are used to umpiring standards not being very good. Former Karnataka captain Vinay Kumar, who has played 31 ODIs and a solitary Test, has a soft corner for umpires, but agrees that they should do better.
“Umpires are like goalkeepers. No matter how many they stop, people don’t appreciate. But if they let one in, people jump on them. But yes, Indian umpires have to get better. Some of the decisions affect teams. I’ve seen many incidents where one wrong decision has cost us the game or the tournament. But it is a tough job,” said Vinay.
It is not easy to become an umpire in India. One has to pass the BCCI’s Level 1 and 2 exams to be eligible to officiate in junior matches. Performance is supposed to be evaluated before they become regulars. From the ‘A’ panel of 10, four are nominated to the ICC. They are usually included in the International Panel, which currently has C Nandan, Shamshuddin, Anil Chaudhary and Nitin Menon. For IPL, only those who do well at the domestic level are chosen.
Sanction unlikely on Indian umpires in IPL
Umpire Sundaram Ravi, whose no ball howler cost Royal Challengers Bangalore heavily in a match and led to an angry outburst by RCB skipper Virat Kohli, is unlikely to be sanctioned due to lack of officials with international experience on the BCCI roster.
Currently, there are only 11 Indian umpires allotted for on-field and TV duty for 56 IPL games, which means Ravi might get negative marking from the match referee but BCCI can hardly take any corrective measures beyond that.