WE WERE ROBBED
England fury over umpire’s blunders
THIS should have been the story of a thrilling India victory to level this series in front of 45,000 ecstatic supporters, but the second Twenty20 international here will always be remembered for the contentious decisions of a home umpire.
So bad and so significant were the wrong calls of Chettithody Shamshuddin, a late appointment for this match, that England will make an official complaint to match referee Andy Pycroft ahead of Wednesday’s final match of this tour.
England coaches Trevor Bayliss and Paul Farbrace made their feelings known to the umpire at the handshakes that followed India’s last-gasp five-run victory.
There is little that is old-fashioned about T20 cricket but a controversy involving a home umpire in India was certainly a throwback in the days of neutral officials for all but short-form matches and the Decision Review System.
The crux of England’s grievance was the dismissal of Joe Root at the start of a final over from Jasprit Bumrah when they needed eight runs to overhaul India’s 144 for eight. Root got an inside edge on to his pad; Shamshuddin quickly raised his finger.
That followed two lbw shouts turned down by Shamshuddin in the India innings to reprieve Virat Kohli and Yuvraj Singh that technology which is not used in T20 cricket showed were palpably out.
‘ There’s extreme frustration, absolutely,’ said England captain Eoin Morgan. ‘Losing a batsman who had faced nearly 40 balls on a wicket that wasn’t easy to time on was a hammer blow and proved very costly.
‘All things considered a couple of decisions didn’t go our way and that’s disappointing.’
It will not be the end of the matter because Shamshuddin, who also caused controversy as a TV official during the Mumbai Test, is due to stand in what has now become a series decider in Bangalore on Wednesday.
‘ We have an opportunity to address it before the next game as there is always feedback given to the match referee in our report,’ said Morgan. ‘Absolutely we will be saying something.’
The controversy overshadowed what was an exciting game that England really still should have won, as they threw away their chance to claim a first limited-overs series success in India since 1984.
Their bowlers were again excellent as Chris Jordan took three wickets and produced his most economical figures for England and Tymal Mills, with a series of clever slower balls, showed he is a skilful bowler as well as a very quick one.
Lokesh Rahul held the India innings together with 71 off 47 balls, as England were undone on a slow wicket that made timing extremely difficult for batsmen.
Victory should have been England’s when Ben Stokes took advantage of their one major stroke of luck when he was bowled first ball by an Amit Mishra no-ball and went on to hit two sixes in his 38 off 27 balls. But Bumrah turned the match India’s way by conceding just three off the 18th over with England needing 28 to win, and then applying the coup de gras by taking two wickets in that controversial final over.
Jos Buttler had hit Ashish Nehra, who had taken three wickets for India, for an extraordinary six off the final ball of the penultimate over but he fell along with Root as England could take just two off Bumrah’s final six balls.
Root struggled for fluency in his 38 off 38 balls but was clearly furious to be denied the opportunity to finish the job off for England by an errant umpire’s finger.
‘I’m a little surprised there’s no DRS in Twenty20 because if this was a World Cup game we’d be spewing,’ said Morgan. ‘There is as much on the line in T20 as a Test or one- day match, so there’s no reason why it shouldn’t be used.
‘We should have won the game anyway,’ Morgan said.
‘It’s disappointing that the umpire has been highlighted because this should be thought of as a good performance by both teams and a competitive game. We will move on and think about what we are going to face in Bangalore.’
There will certainly be spice to the final match of England’s tour, with a series on the line and the small matter of umpire Shamshuddin due to stand again.