Yesterday, there was a One-Day international played
between India and Bangladesh, in which an incident involving Shikhar Dhawan
caused widespread consternation. What happened was that Dhawan nicked a ball
behind at easy catchable height to the wicketkeeper. The keeper dived, got both
hands to the catch, and it looked like the ball had gone into his gloves. But he
had managed to drop the catch, with the ball landing on the ground exactly
behind him. It was a clear nick, and everyone (Dhawan, the bowler and the
umpire) all knew instantly it was a nick. So, the umpire IMMEDIATELY raised his
finger, the bowler started celebrating and Dhawan started walking back without checking
further. To anyone who was in front of the keeper (bowler, batsman, umpire,
mid-off, mid-on etc), the drop was hidden from view because the ball had fallen
behind the body of the keeper.
The fielder at slip, had meanwhile seen that
the catch had been dropped, and threw the stumps down with Dhawan out of his
crease and already walking towards the pavilion. Even if the catch had been
dropped, the fielding team now appealed for run out. But, the ball had become
dead as soon as the umpire had (mistakenly) given it out for the catch, and the
run out did not count. So, Dhawan remained not out after all this. Why was he not run out? Let me explain it.
Think of situations where a catch is taken anywhere in the outfield. The umpires do not need to raise their
finger in these instances, and they don’t. The batsman starts walking back on
his own as soon as he sees the catch has been taken, and if it turns out he wasn’t
really out (whether because it is a no-ball or because the catch isn’t taken
cleanly), he can’t be run out any more for leaving his crease. Also, sometimes after
nicking a ball to the keeper, batsmen walk on their own without the umpire
having given it out first. Here also, they cannot be run out for leaving the
crease (even if the keeper has proceeded to drop the catch, and it was the
batsman’s fault for leaving the crease before being given out by the
umpire). In any situation, as soon as a batsman starts walking towards the pavilion under the
impression that he is out, he can no longer be given run out for having left the crease.
From the point of view of the umpire: This situation begs the question as
to why Rod Tucker (the umpire) was so hasty in giving Dhawan out caught behind
by the keeper. So many people are blaming him for this reason, but it is easy to explain. The explanation is: The
bowler appealed for caught behind (which he wouldn’t have done he known the
catch had been dropped), and even Dhawan started walking immediately (which he wouldn’t have done he known the catch had been dropped).
Having umpired a lot of matches in various forms of cricket, let me tell you
that the primary issue in cases like these is not deciding whether the catch
has been taken, but whether the batsman has nicked it or not. All your focus while
umpiring is on detecting the nick. On most occasions, there is a very thin
nick, which makes it difficult to 'see' if the ball has changed its direction.
So, you have to concentrate extra hard on trying to 'hear' the nick. And there
are times when you cannot determine if a nick is there or not, and have to
study reactions of the batsman and fielders to conclude what has happened. You
pray for these situations never to arise while you are umpiring. And, it’s a
relief to you when the nick is clear and it’s easy to give the decision. Tucker
was so relieved that he had detected the nick in this case that he wasted no
time in giving it out.
From the point of view of the cricketer: When you are a player (whether
batsman or bowler), if the umpire takes a lot of time in giving decisions, it
always infuriates you in my experience. If you are batting and you have not edged the ball yet
the fielders are appealing, you want the umpire to dismiss the appeal quickly
and ask the fielders why they are appealing. If you are the bowler and
the batsman has nicked, you do not want the umpire to start contemplating about the decision. Arre bhai,
if I know there is a nick and each of my fielders has detected the nick, what are
you, as the umpire, doing? Give it out immediately. As the
cricketer, you want decisions to come out fast from the umpire. If he taking time, it
frustrates you. The umpires are always aware of this, and so want to give decisions
as soon as possible to avoid frustration from creeping up amongst the players.
You cannot really blame Tucker for giving a
fast decision for this kind of nick, can you?
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