Umpire Rod Tucker survives a deadly blow on Day 2 at the SSC

Australian umpire Rod Tucker is certainly having a busy day at the office. Tucker is in charge of the 2nd Test between Sri Lanka and India along with his English colleague Richard Illingworth. However, as far as the action on the pitch is concerned, Tucker had to be as agile as the fielders on the ground.

The story:

Tucker was brilliant in the dodging game at the ground as he managed to move away from two deadly hits directed towards him. While one was from Indian power hitter Hardik Pandya, the other came a few minutes later from the left-handed Ravindra Jadeja. The umpire showed brilliant reaction skills on both occasions as he moved away from the strikes which missed him by a whisker.

Pandya’s strike was the more lethal of the two which came off a Pushpakumara delivery. Pandya came running down the track to hit a pitched up delivery straight towards the boundary. He did not get his elevation correct and the ball maintained a waist height as it went like a rocket. Tucker was equally fast in his movement as he moved his hip sideways in order to let the ball pass from under his stomach. It was definitely a masterstroke from the Aussie.

The second one from Ravindra Jadeja’s willow was a comparatively easy one. Jadeja smashed a Dhananjaya de Silva delivery which could have been a magnificent catch if the bowler caught it. Instead, it touched De Silva’s fingers and deviated it’s way again into the path of umpire Rod Tucker. this time Tucker ducked the hit and fell palms first on the ground. Jadeja remained not out at the end of the Indian inning on 70 runs as the Indians posted a mammoth total of 622 runs on the board. Centuries from Cheteshwar Pujara and Ajinkya Rahane were the highlights of the Indian inning while Ashwin, Pandya and Wriddhiman Saha also chipped in with useful contributions.

Watch the video here:

Turns out Rod Tucker is The One after all. Someone give Morpheus a bell and let him know he’s got the wrong bloke… pic.twitter.com/NfmataApjB

— The Cricket Paper (@TheCricketPaper) August 4, 2017