Afghanistan’s game against India on Wednesday may have won a million hearts but the on-field umpiring yet again disappointed, especially, the Indian cricketers. Umpire Gregory Brathwaite gave two wrong decisions which not only went against India but ultimately, played a huge role in ending the match without any result.
MS Dhoni and Dinesh Karthik were the two Indian batters who became the victims of Brathwaite’s faulty analysis. Let’s have a look at both the dismissals closely:
Dhoni lbw b Javed Ahmadi 8(17)
Ahmedi pitched the ball outside the off stump which eventually turned and was missing the leg stump after turning. Dhoni, who closed the face of his bat early to work it away into the on-side, was left struck on the pad. Umpire Brathwaite went with the appeal and raised his finger without any doubt.
Here’s the video:
Karthik lbw b Nabi 44(66) [4s-4]
Karthik’s wicket came as a bigger shock than Dhoni’s. He was inching towards his fifty but another wrong decision by Brathwaite send him back to the dressing room. Nabi’s delivery was sliding down the leg-side, ultimately missing the stumps. But Karthik’s follow through probably made the umpire feel that he was out.
Here’s the video:
In both cases, the TV replay showed that the ball was going away from the stumps. Unfortunately, India weren’t left with any review. Hence, the batters had no other options than to walk back.
Later in the post-match presentation, MS Dhoni chose not to comment directly on the incident but said, “There was a couple of run-out and there are a couple of things I don't want to talk about because I don’t want to get fined.”