Accidents do happen once, twice or thrice but never in continuity. Wrong decisions decrease faith on umpiring credibility. Quick thinking and rethinking before giving decisions is the fundamental requirement of best decision-makers.

The quality of umpiring has been on the decline. A wrong decision may make or break a batsman and this has become a growing menace.


The biggest example in this context is the present series between India and Sri Lanka. When the master blaster Sachin Tendulkar was wrongly declared out LBW, cricket lovers in India were left astonished. Now it has been more than ten times that Sachin has been a victim of a wrong umpiring decision. Beside the Sri Lankan umpires, Steve Bucknor and Darryl Harper have also given wrong decisions in the past against Sachin.

In this context, some umpires have blamed the fielders’ loud appeals and the spectators’ noise, which disturbs their concentration and results in wrong decisions. Such claims prove that lack of confidence is the major cause of the umpiring blunders. The ‘referral system’ as introduced in Test matches might prove beneficial for ODI’s also. This formula should be tried.