"Been going on for years" - J&K captain's stunning statement on umpiring after Shreyas Iyer's controversial not out in Ranji Trophy 2024-25

Jammu and Kashmir (J&K) captain Paras Dogra has expressed his disappointment with the umpiring standards in the ongoing Ranji Trophy clash against Mumbai. Over the first couple of days of the match, a number of contentious calls were made, including a glaring not-out decision that gave Shreyas Iyer a major reprieve.

On-field umpires Navdeep Singh and S Ravi have come under the scanner for their poor officiating in the contest. Earlier, Mumbai skipper Ajinkya Rahane was recalled from the pavilion after a delayed no-ball was called. Shreyas Iyer then nicked a delivery to the opposition wicket-keeper Kanhaiya Wadhawan in the 16th over of the second innings. However, the umpire remained unmoved to Jammu and Kashmir's vociferous appeals, while the batter also stood his ground.

There was a loud noise when the ball had made contact with the edge, and replays showed that there was a significant deflection too. However, with no DRS available, the bowling side were left frustrated.

Dogra claimed that such dubious umpiring decisions are a common trend for his side now.

“This has been going on for years and there’s nothing much that we can do about it. Umpires are human after all and can make mistakes. But had they been a bit more attentive, it would have been fun. But it’s part and parcel of the game, and that’s why they got the DRS,” Dogra told Sportstar at the end of Day 2.

“It would have been a good experience to have DRS here, but we can’t control it since there are 10-15 games happening simultaneously. So, it does not make any difference since everybody is going through this,” the skipper added.

Rahane and Iyer scored 16 and 17 runs respectively as the star-studded Mumbai outfit collapsed for the second time in two days.

"Shardul’s was one of the best innings I have seen" - J&K captain Paras Dogra

All-rounder Shardul Thakur came to Mumbai's rescue in the second innings, replicating his efforts from Day 1. He had scored a fifty in the first innings after Mumbai were reduced to 47-7. The second time around, Mumbai were reeling at 91-6 with only a marginal lead.

Thakur slammed a brilliant hundred, making a massive statement after not being considered for the Border-Gavaskar series, and going unsold in the Indian Premier League (IPL) 2025 mega auction.

“Shardul’s was one of the best innings I have seen. The ball stopped moving after a point, so that had an impact. That’s when we tried doing something different and tried out bouncers, which did not work. But Shardul played really well," Dogra said (as per the aforementioned source).

Mumbai finished Day 2 at 274-7, stretching their lead to 188 runs in the process. Shardul Thakur and Tanush Kotian remain unbeaten at the crease, and their partnership of 173 runs for the eighth wicket is well intact.