5 controversial decisions made by umpire Vineet Kulkarni

Kulkarni's decisions have been massively debated on social media In the form of Srinivas Venkataraghavan, India gave the cricketing world one of it’s best umpires ever. The former Indian cricketer officated in 72 Tests and 53 ODIs including 6 Ashes Tests and 2 World Cup semi-finals and garnered great respect from players as well as fellow umpires.However, post his retirement from the esteemed job, India have not produced too many good umpires. Rather many of them have been in the news for some shockingly poor decisions at crucial junctures in matches where they have overlooked the proceedings.The most recent among these cases has been that of Vineet Kulkarni, who has drawn the ire of players and fans alike for his actions during South Africa’s ongoing tour of India. Let’s take a look at 5 controversial decisions made by the Indian umpire in recent times:

#1 1st T20I - India vs South Africa, 2nd Oct 2015

Bhuvi had Duminy plumb in front but the umpire had other ideas

In the 1st T20I between India and South Africa played at Dharamshala, Vineet Kulkarni came up with his first howler of the tour. The Proteas were chasing a formidable target of 200 for a win and were 157 for 3 in the 17thover.

The second ball of the over saw Bhuvaneshwar Kumar bowl an inswinging yorker which was missed completely by South African southpaw JP Duminy while attempting a flick and the ball hit his pad. The Indians went up in an appeal for lbw as it was clear that the batsman was struck right in front of the stumps.

But umpire Kulkarni was unmoved and ruled in favour of the batsman, much to the dismay of the Indian team and the spectators in the stadium. South Africa managed to rub salt on Team Indias wounds by completing the win with 2 balls to spare.

#2 1st ODI, India vs South Africa, 11 Oct 2015

Morkel and Miller celebrate as Dhawan is wrongly given out lbw

The incident in the 1st T20I could have been ignored as a mistake by the umpire, but what transpired in the 1st ODI of the 5-match series between India and South Africa raised concerns over Vineet Kulkarni’s ability as an umpire. The South African batsmen managed to pile on 303 on the board for India to chase down and draw first blood in the series.

The Indian innings got off to a flyer thanks to a soild opening partnership between Rohit Sharma and Shikhar Dhawan. In 7.2 overs, the hosts were comfortably placed at 42 for no loss when a full delivery from Morne Morkel hit Shikhar Dhawan on the pad as the bowler and fielders went up in appeal. Umpire Kulkarni was quick to oblige and raised his finger almost instantly.

But the replays suggested something else; Morkel’s delivery bowled from round the wicket was angling into Dhawan and looked to be going down the leg side. India lost the game by 5 runs in the end and this prompted the team management to lodge an official complaint against the umpire.

#3 2nd ODI, India vs South Africa, 14 Oct 2015

South Africa too suffered due to Kulkarni’s rough decision making

Vineet Kulkarni completed his hattrick of shambolic decisions during the 2^nd ODI of the India-South Africa series played at Indore. Only this time, Team India were the beneficiaries of the umpire’s inefficiency.

Riding on skipper MS Dhoni’s valiant innings of 92 not out, India posted a respectable 247 on the board. Although South Africa struggled to find momentum throughout the chase, they were still within striking distance of the target in the 40^th over with 3 wickets still in hand and 48 runs remaining. The last recognised batsman for the Proteas, Farhaan Behardein, was batting on 18 as Harbhajan bowled one which turned down the leg side.

Dhoni appealed for caught behind as soon as he collected the ball and convinced Kulkarni enough to give it out, reducing South Africa to 200 for 8. The TV replays, however, showed that the ball had just gone straight through and there was no edge even as per Snicko. India won the match by 22 runs, but the umpire was the man in focus once again for all the wrong reasons.

#4 Ranji Trophy Semi-final 1, Karnataka vs Mumbai, 25-28 Feb 2015

Aditya Tare of Mumbai suffered at the hands of Kulkarni’s umpiring

The India-South Africa series is not cricket’s first rendezvous with Vineet Kulkarni’s poor umpiring decisions. He has done it before in India’s premier domestic tournament, the Ranji Trophy. The worst part is that he picked one of the most important matches of the 2014-15 season, the 1^st semi-final between Karnataka and Mumbai.

Mumbai were at the receiving end in most of the bad decisions by Kulkarni, one of them being opener Aditya Tare being adjudged caught behind off the bowling of Vinay Kumar. Despite the Mumbai skipper not having nicked the ball to Karnataka keeper CM Gautam, Kulkarni gave him out. Even though the decision may not have made much of a difference considering that Mumbai folded up for just 44, the umpiring was surely not up to the required standards.

#5 Ranji Trophy Semi-final 1, Karnataka vs Mumbai, 25-28 Feb 2015

Uthappa benefitted from another poor decision by Vineet Kulkarni in the same match

The Ranji Trophy semi-final between Mumbai and Karnataka early this year was a really bad one for umpire Vineet Kulkarni as he got too many decisions wrong. Apart from the Aditya Tare dismissal, another crucial miss from Kulkarni came on the first morning of the match when he gave ace Karnataka batsman Robin Uthappa a repreive.

Karnataka were 2 down for not too many and could have easily lost a third when Uthappa was struck in front of the pads as Mumbai appealed. Kulkarni turned down the appeal allowing the Karnataka batsman to continue as he went on to score a crucial 68 which became instrumental in helping Karnataka advance to the final.

Vineet Kulkarni’s multiple debacles raise a lot of questions about his credentials as an international umpire.