Indian Cricketers Unhappy over Daryl Harper’s Umpiring in India West Indies Series

Heartburn was bound to follow sooner rather than later, although victory would have softened it a bit. While some felt that the umpiring bloopers served India a lesson in not adhering to the UDRS, the Indian cricketers themselves are venting ire on the Australian umpire who made their life tough on the cricket pitch in Jamaica.

Daryl Harper

India were at the receiving end of several decision blunders, most glaringly from the Australian umpire, Daryl Harper, during the first India West Indies Test in Kingston, Jamaica. Although India did win the first Test by sixty-three runs, the Indians felt that their time on the field was extended not to mention the pressure of bad decisions, all as a direct result of Harper.

In fact, Harper’s decisions in India’s second innings made it arguably tough on India who were trying to post a tough total for the hosts. Had it not been for Rahul Dravid, the landscape of the match may have looked different. With Indian batsmen suffering rather obviously, it was only natural that the umpiring standards would become the burning topic following the match.

Mahendra Singh Dhoni, the Indian captain, certainly did not hide his displeasure at the press conference following the match that India sealed after lunch on the fourth day claiming that the wrong dismissals had forced India to stay out longer than necessary for victory. He refrained though from making a direct finger pointing episode towards Harper. Dhoni himself was at the receiving end of a poor dismissal when Devendra Bishoo clearly cut the return crease in his bowling run up and yet Dhoni was declared out.

Harper’s decisions have not only been against India but also, favoured the West Indies on a couple of occasions, particularly with Darren Bravo being at the centre of controversy as well. With the kind of decisions being made, the funny conspiracy theory doing the rounds was that India had opposed the Umpire Decision Review System and this was one way of pointing out why the BCCI’s opposition to the UDRS had been wrong all along. India’s controversial stance against the UDRS goes against the majority that favour implementing the system uniformly across the sport.

There is little doubt that the Indian cricketers would have benefitted had they appealed with the help of the UDRS. But with the BCCI lacking faith in the system, the Indian cricketers were fortunate to escape ignominy as the no.1 ranked Test team because losing here could have left them no face to save, despite the several big names missing from the team line up.

Although Harper is on the verge of retirement, after what followed in the first Test, it would not be surprising if some of the Indian cricketers were wishing that Harper’s retirement would be hastened. After all it is one thing to be pinned down by the opposition. But when an umpire is only going to make the hurdles that much tougher to cross when India could use a break, it is obvious that these decisions could not only hurt India but also, those Indian cricketers trying to make a name for themselves in a rare opportunity of sorts. With two Tests yet to go, the Indian cricketers can prepare all they like in the nets. But the umpiring could be a whole other matter.