Here's why a single umpire is officiating from both ends in the Saurashtra-Bengal Ranji Trophy final

The Ranji Trophy 2019-20 finally initiated on Monday with two stalwarts Bengal and Saurashtra battling it out to lay their hands over the coveted trophy. It was all about Saurashtra’s gritty batting display on Day 1 as the opening duo of Harvik Desai and Avi Barot stitched an 82-run opening stand.

Desai scored a steady 38-run knock while Barot amassed a brilliant half-century to plunge misery of Bengal bowlers on a flat wicket. Post the departure of both the openers it was the Vishvaraj Jadeja-Arpit Vasavada duo who steadied Saurashtra’s ship. Both the batsmen amassed half-centuries to ensure that their side posts a challenging total on the board. Apart from Akash Deep’s three-wicket haul, no Bengal bowler was successful was able to deliver a robust spell.

Amid the contest between players of both the sides, one thing that caught the eye of many fans was the absence of umpire Chettithody Shamsuddin from the field. After being hit by a ball that lobbed towards him after the fall of a wicket, the umpire had to depart from the field. Furthermore, Shamsuddin was also forced to stay off the field on the second day too.

A usual Ranji Trophy game consists of only two umpires

In Shamsuddin’s absence, KN Ananthapadmanabhan was seen officiating the play from both ends at the start of Day 2. Piyush Kakkar was assigned the role of the square-leg umpire but he did not have much officiating to do. Amid all the conundrum, third umpire Sundaram Ravi could also not make his way to the field as he has been assigned the responsibility of scrutinizing DRS calls in the encounter.

In a situation where the on-field umpire is injured or unwell, an official– who is the liaison officer for the umpires and referee during the course of play– is asked to don the square-leg umpire’s role on the field. This person is usually a local umpire who has been involved in the match by the decision of the state association.

A usual Ranji game consists of only two umpires along with the match referee donning the hat of the third umpire. The Ranji games which are broadcasted on the television, a third umpire is added to the umpiring team.

Meanwhile, at the time of filing this story, Saurashtra have gathered a total of 278 at the loss of five wickets with Cheteshwar Pujara and Arpit Vasavada battling it out in the middle against Bengal’s bowling force.