Kumar Dharmasena and his DRS nightmares continue

Umpire Kumar Dharmasena is one of the most respected umpires in the ICC elite panel. He has been spot on with his decisions in the past. With the introduction of the Decision Review System (DRS), the umpires were expected to benefit out of the development. However, it has turned into an unwanted nightmare for the former Sri Lankan player.

Dharmasena is often renowned for his accuracy in umpiring calls. In the last few months, he has been getting it all wrong on most occasions. It has been the DRS that has been overturning his on-field calls. During the recent England tour of Bangladesh, Kumar Dharmasena had a very tough time in the middle.

He gave some bold decisions but only to change them after the reviews. He became the centre of attraction on the social media too. People were amused to see how the most experienced umpire was falling short at the mercy of the technology.

During the Chittagong Test, he gave 16 decisions. Out of those 16, 8 were overturned after the referral. Now, during the ongoing Mohali Test between India and England, Kumar Dharmasena had another nightmare encounter with DRS but this time being in the third umpire’s seat.

Chris Woakes had bowled a delivery down the leg side. Parthiv Patel tried to tuck it to fine leg. The wicketkeeper held on to a catch and the English players appealed. On-field umpire Marais Erasmus gave it out nut Patel reviewed it straight away. Replays showed that the ball had not hit the bat but brushed the side of Patel’s jersey.

Dharmasena, the third umpire, made a blunder when he said on air, “Marais, no edge, you can stay with your original decision.” Luckily, though, Erasmus did not hear the second part of the sentence and overturned his decision. If he had heard Dharmasena’s call, he would have stayed with his original decision of out!

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