THE INTERNATIONAL Cricket Council (ICC) disclosed yesterday that India’s Mahendra Singh Dhoni was erroneously dismissed in the ongoing second Test against West Indies, following the wrong TV replay being shown to the third umpire during a review of a no-ball.
The announcement will provide India’s authorities with more fodder to their argument that technology in the game is still unreliable.
Dhoni was caught at mid-on off Fidel Edwards for two in his side’s first innings total of 201 on the first day at Kensington Oval.
But the ICC said standing umpire Ian Gould suspected that the delivery was a no-ball, and followed protocol in seeking confirmation from TV umpire Gregory Brathwaite.
“The host broadcaster for this series, IMG Media, acknowledged the mistake and has apologised,” said match referee Chris Broad in an ICC media release.
“Having looked into the situation, I am satisfied it was an unfortunate, but honest mistake in what is a tense, and live environment.
“It is worth pointing out that the umpires followed the correct procedures and are without blame in this matter.”
Broad ruled out the possibility of the decision being reversed for obvious reasons.
“Seeing as the game has continued, clearly there is no opportunity to reverse the decision,” he said.
“We are forced now to put it behind us, and move on with the remainder of the match.”
Officials of the Board of Control for Cricket in India (BCCI) have lamented the use of the umpire decision review system (DRS) in the sport, which allows players to have umpiring decisions examined on the spot.
Niranjan Shah, vice president of the BCCI, said in a recent interview with the ESPN-Cricinfo website that the DRS in its present form offered marginal gains for a technology that is exorbitant, and not error-free.
The DRS was one of the main bones of contention at this week’s ICC Chief Executives’ Committee meeting in Hong Kong, where a modified version was approved for use in all Tests and One-day Internationals.
