Joe Root and Chris Silverwood talk to Javagal Srinath after exasperation on the field
The England captain and coach have asked the match referee to ensure “consistency” in the process by which the television referee makes decisions after more contentious moments on the first day of the third test in Ahmedabad.
Joe Root and Chris Silverwood went to see Javagal Srinath, the ICC match referee, after the end of the first day’s game to record their frustrations after two decisions, both on the road to India, were made, in your opinion, unusually fast.
In the first instance, Shubman Gill was pardoned by the television referee, C Shamshuddin, when replays suggested that Ben Stokes, on the slip, failed to complete a catch cleanly. In the second, Rohit Sharma was not declared out after an appeal for a trade.
On both occasions, Shamshuddin appeared to reach his decision with surprising speed and without resorting to the many angles that often accompany the decision-making process. At one point, Root could be heard on the stump mics asking umpires on the field why only one camera angle had been used when he felt that a different one might have provided more certainty.
In contrast, when Jack Leach beat a low probability earlier in the day, Shamshuddin was provided several angles, including one from a stump camera, before making his decision.
These incidents follow those of the second test where Ajinkya Rahane survived a review for a bat catch when the television referee on that occasion, Anil Chaudhary, failed to review the correct pace of the game. Rohit also survived another close call for a trip with only one angle of the incident available to the television referee, while referees on the field opted to review the expulsion of Virat Kohli after he was cleared.
As a result, Root and Silverwood went to Srinath for stumps. “The England captain and the head coach spoke with the match referee after the match,” said a spokesman for the England team.
“The captain and head coach acknowledged the challenges the umpires faced and respectfully requested that in making any decision there be consistency in the process. The match umpire said the captain was asking the umpires the right questions.”
The ICC has been contacted for comment.
England has previously faced Shamshuddin. He withdrew, reportedly due to health problems, from a decisive T20I series match between England and India in 2017 after Eoin Morgan expressed “extreme frustration” with his performance.
Zak Crawley, the only England hitter to emerge from the rubble of a poor hitting performance with some credit, admitted his team’s “frustrations”.
“When we hit, Jack Leach had a similar [low catch, similar to the Stokes dismissal] where he didn’t get along and it seemed like they were looking at him from five or six different angles, “Crawley said.” When we were fielding it seemed like they were looking at him from an angle.
“That’s where the frustrations lie. I can’t say whether they came out or not, but I think the frustrations lie in not checking further.”
The ICC has decided to dispense with neutral arbitrators during the Covid-19 pandemic in light of difficulties with international travel. They have tried to compensate for any possibility of unconscious bias by providing teams with an additional review per entry.
George Dobell is senior correspondent for ESPNcricinfo
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