World Cup 2019: 4 umpiring blunders from the tournament

The World Cup is the marquee event of cricket, which requires the teams to put their best foot forward, on account of the fierce competition and dynamic nature of the tournament. Teams are expected to be at their heels, be it any department.

When the players give their full dedication towards the showpiece event, they expect the organisation and umpiring to also be top-notch, particularly with the state-of-the-art technology coming to the fore these days. Unfortunately, that was not the case in several matches, as the players became victims of some ridiculous umpiring blunders, with a couple of them even changing the course of the Final.

Let's have a look at some the worst umpiring errors in the tournament.

#4 Jason Roy misses out on a hundred due to an umpiring howler

Jason Roy lost his wicket due to an umpiring howler

Jason Roy was at the receiving end of a massive umpiring error in the second semi-final of the World Cup against Australia. England had to chase a mediocre 224 for a place in the final. Openers Jonny Bairstow and Jason Roy got England off to a flyer, notching an opening partnership of 124 in just 17.2 overs. It was then that Bairstow was trapped leg before wicket by Mitchell Starc and took a review, only to lose it.

Jason Roy was particularly in swashbuckling touch, hitting the Aussie bowlers to all parts of the ground. Two overs later, he attempted another pull off Pat Cummins, but could not connect. Australian wicketkeeper Alex Carey collected the ball, and the Australians appealed for a caught behind. After some thought, Kumar Dharamsena, raised his finger, leaving Jason Roy fuming at the dismissal.

Roy was seething in anger and refused to leave the field. Replays showed a clear gap between the bat and the ball. Roy was dismissed for 85 runs off 65 balls. With the kind of touch he was in, it can certainly be said that he was robbed of a hundred due to an umpiring howler.

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#3 Rohit Sharma forced to depart in a comedy of errors

🤦‍♂️👀 pic.twitter.com/0RH6VeU6YB
— Rohit Sharma (@ImRo45) June 28, 2019

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Rohit Sharma became the victim of poor (third) umpiring when he was forced to depart in the game against West Indies. In the last ball of the 6th over bowled by Kemar Roach, Rohit missed the delivery, as it travelled to the keeper between the bat and the pad. While the on-field umpire ruled the decision in the batsman's favour, Windies seemed to be convinced and went for a review.

What followed was a comedy of errors. On checking the Ultra Edge, third umpire Michael Gough found a spike but was did not seem to be convinced as to whether it was due to the contact with the bat or the pad. There seemed to be a lack of conclusive evidence. In such a case, the practice is to stick with the original decision or to explore different angles or take some time to announce the verdict. Further, the batsman is given the benefit of doubt in these circumstances.

In a rather surprising move, the third umpire ruled Rohit Sharma out, with the Indian vice-captain looking clearly disgusted at the decision. A disappointed Rohit later took to Twitter to share an image of the dismissal, which clearly indicated a huge gap between bat and ball.

#2 Chris Gayle becomes the victim of three umpiring howlers howlers

Chris Gayle reviewed his dismissal thrice, surviving on two occasions and being unlucky on the third

Chris Gayle became the victim of three wrong umpiring decisions during his short 17-ball stay at the crease. Interestingly, all the three decisions came off the bowling of Mitchell Starc and New Zealander Chris Gaffaney was the umpire on all the three occasions.

The southpaw survived two wrong decisions in the same over, as he reviewed two decisions of caught behind and leg before wicket against him. Both the occasions showed some serious negligence by the umpire.

Two overs later, Gayle was hit once again on the pads by Starc's delivery. Once again, he went for the review, this time without even asking his partner Shai Hope. However, this time around, he had to depart, as the review declared the wickets to be Umpire's Call, which had been initially ruled against the Universe Boss

Ironically, the umpiring error on this occasion came one ball before the dismissal, as Gaffaney missed a huge no-ball by Starc. The delivery on which Gayle was dismissed should have actually been a Free Hit. This decision proved to be crucial in the context of the game, as West Indies not only lost the hard-hitting Gayle, who was off to a good start, but also a Free Hit, which could have changed the fortunes in the otherwise 15-run defeat.

#1 Umpiring howlers change the course of the Final

Despite the massive blunder by him in the semi-final, ICC persisted with Kumar Dharmasena in World Cup Final. Once again, Dharmasena emulated his semi-final blunders, with New Zealand being on the receiving end this time. He ruled Henry Nicholls out, but the latter survived on account of the DRS.

When Martin Guptill exhausted the review, Ross Taylor was dismissed on a wrong call by Marais Erasmus, but Taylor was unfortunate not to have the review. Taylor had got off to a good start and started his task of rebuilding the innings. His dismissal was a crucial moment in the game, as that left only keeper Latham and the all-rounders to follow.

Ross Taylor was ruled out wrongly by Dharmasena

However, the biggest umpiring howler came in the last over of the match, which possibly cost the Cup to New Zealand. With England needing 9 runs off 3 balls, Ben Stokes hit the ball towards deep mid-wicket, and called for two runs. Martin Guptill threw the ball, which hit the bat of a diving Stokes and went straight to the fence. Dharmasena awarded 6 runs to England for the same, with 2 runs of running, and 4 due to the overthrow.

Ben Stokes' bat hit a throw from the deep resulting in a total of 6 runs for England

It was later found out that Dharamsena made a gross error of judgement. The event should have resulted in only 5 runs for England, as Stokes had not crossed the crease when the ball had hit his bat for the overthrow. Former international umpire Simon Taufel, too, asserted that the throw should have resulted in only 5 runs, with 4 runs left to get off the last 2 balls and Adil Rashid on strike.

The match ended in a tie and went on to the Super Over. The 1 extra run, which was ruled in favour of England made all the difference in the end.