Benson and Bucknor ruin it for India

When was the last time you got bored after watching a test match? When was the last time that you needed a break from Dada's Dadagiri or some perfect textbook cricketing strokes from Dravid? Just when the people were tired of Australia’s consistency or India’s exhilarating perseverance, the umpires of this tour decided to take the charge. Well, no doubt they created an easy path to victory for Australia but they definitely boosted up the anxiety levels of each and every Indian following the game. Even the people with the best of temperaments like Dravid and Gavaskar broke the ice. Here’s an incident of 2008 where there were the worst umpiring decisions in asingle match. Have a look at all the incidences:

Wait...did you just look back?
The aggressive overnight Australian game changer Andrew Symonds was struggling against some furious bowling by Ishant Sharma where he finally fell victim to a great delivery. A nick of the bat and perfectly taken by Dhoni behind the stumps, the whole Indian team was rejoicing, surprisingly Steve Bucknor did not show the finger. Symonds, as soon as he got a nick looked back at the keeper which is a clear sign that the batsman knew that he was out. But Symonds sneaked out without dirtying his hand leaving the whole Indian team perplexed.

Can’t afford third umpires right?
We all know the fact that MS Dhoni is one of those keepers who don’t appeal without a reason. Andrew Symonds who was given not out when he was at a score of 20 had now built up a score of 148 and sure he was causing problems for the Indian team. The quick and intelligent stumping was never given a chance to be recognized by the third umpire because Bucknor clearly guessed that the foot was in the line. Well replays and analysis then revealed that it wasn’t in the line but rather clearly in air. Though a batsman is always given the benefit of doubt but third umpire is always worth a try, isn’t it? Still with another lifeline Symonds escaped to build a great score.

Suddenly Mark Benson felt left out.
Just when Steve Bucknor was already doing a great job of entertaining the public, Mark Benson decided to hit in the bull’s eye. And surely he nailed it! Sourav ganguly came down to gamble with the ball facing the Australian skipper Ponting on the other end. A poor delivery on the leg side which Ponting decided to chip, didn’t quite work according to Ponting’s plans. A thick edge of the bat which was completely overlooked by Mark Benson rendered Ponting safe. This was one of those rare times when the man with greatest temperament Rahul Dravid lost his cool and fired on the umpire from the slip’s end. Again leaving everyone in shock Australia moved one step forward towards victory.

Serious problems of parallax!
When the foot is in air...it is in air! As simple as that! Well now Bucknor’s judgement of not asking to the third umpire earlier is justified, because it was certainly not gonna make any difference. Forget having a good lead, follow on or some special strokes, the main mission in this tour was clearly ‘Rescue Symonds’. A great delivery by Kumble and Dhoni doing his job perfectly behind the stumps again went in vain. This time Bucknor did go to the third umpire but despite several replays that clearly showed that his foot was in air, Symonds was given ‘NOT OUT’ by the third umpire. Not sure if there was some problem with the camera but the third umpire’s got some serious problems of parallax.

Was Mark Benson high?
Agreed, when you’re high you’re not in your senses, but it’s always ironical to figure out the fact that you’re not in your senses even when you’re not high. Mark benson was no contradiction to this irony. A mesmerizing Yorker Lee rendered Wasim Jaffer with no choice and had an LBW. But various replays clearly depicted that the line was crossed by Lee which Benson quite missed. Maybe he would have knocked some English beer before the second innings, but still no one would miss such a giant no-ball

Bucknor needs to control his finger.
When it comes to great defence techniques and style, Rahul Dravid is the correct reference. Dravid’s not one of the most expressive people but his face showed some really expressive emotions when he was another victim to the umpiring blunder. Symonds again getting it all right on Bucknor’s side dismissed ‘The Wall’ while Gilchrist took a catch behind the stumps. Well several replays showed that the bat was nicely held behind the pad and there was no sign of nick but still that marked the end of Dravid.

Ponting’s the better judge!
The greatest highlight of this incident wasn’t Benson getting a wrong decision or Ponting showing some bad notions; it was Gavaskar in the commentary box who stormed on Mark Benson calling it ‘Utter Nonsense’. And it’s totally justified, when you as an umpire aren’t sure if that was out or not you have to check with the third Umpire or give the benefit of doubt to the batsman, but you just cannot ask the captain of the fielding team and rely on his verdict. That surely was utter nonsense. Sourav Ganguly compared to many other Australians peacefully walked off but it was crystal clear that Clarke did not get the ball clean in his hands and it did bounce. But sure when we’ve got umpires like these, Ponting has to be the better judge.

Well this was one of the biggest issues, since its aftermath was protracted around BCCI’s rigid verdict of walking off the tournament and the captain Anil Kumble’s constant threats of charging allegations. This all certainly worked and blunders like these never happened again. But it certainly outraged each and every Indian following the game.