Dhoni slams Harper for poor decisions

[ravishingravi]

Umpire Daryl Harper came in for some scathing criticism from the Indian cricket team, which blasted the Australian for his poor decisions during the first cricket Test against the West Indies. Such was the exasperation that a senior member of the side said that the entire team now wants Harper to not officiate in the third Test. Skipper Mahendra Singh Dhoni did little to hide his disgust at the standard of umpiring in the Test, which they won by 63 runs to take a 1-0 lead. Umpire Daryl Harper came in for some scathing criticism from the Indian cricket team, which blasted the Australian for his poor decisions during the first cricket Test against the West Indies. Such was the exasperation that a senior member of the side said that the entire team now wants Harper to not officiate in the third Test. Skipper Mahendra Singh Dhoni did little to hide his disgust at the standard of umpiring in the Test, which they won by 63 runs to take a 1-0 lead. "If correct decisions were made, the game would have ended much earlier and we would have been in the hotel by now," Dhoni said at the post match press conference. The Australian will stand for one last time when India take on West Indies in the third Test at Dominica from July 6. "We don't want him. You can quote it as the reaction of the entire Indian team," said a very senior member of the side. Though Dhoni did not name any of the two umpires officiating in the match - Ian Gould (England) and Harper - several Indian players openly termed the latter as the center of their ire. "It's Daryl Harper six not out," said another senior cricketer as soon as he saw a bunch of Indian pressmen approaching him. Indians were upset that Harper made at least three critical errors against India and three in favour of West Indies during the match. "Suresh Raina, Harbhajan Singh and Dhoni himself for done in; (Darren) Bravo twice and once (Shivnarine) Chanderpaul benefitted," chimed in another Indian cricketer, bristling with aggression. Raina was given out caught in the leg-trap off Devendra Bishoo and television replays suggested no edge from either bat or gloves of the batsman. Harbhajan Singh was ruled out leg before wicket when the ball clearly was seen going way above the height of the stumps. Dhoni was cleanly caught at point region off Bishoo but the bowler had cut the return crease in his bowling run-up and the delivery should have been called a no-ball. All three decisions in question were given by Harper in Indias second innings. Then, when West Indies batted for the last time, there were confident appeals against Bravo and Chanderpaul which were not upheld. The controversial Australian umpire is regarded worldwide as the worst umpire in the ICC list of elite umpires. After being on the panel for nine years, between 2002-2011, the ICC too has come round to the general perception and declared that Harper will stand down after the termination of his contract in July 2011. Harper also needled the Indians by banning Praveen Kumar from bowling for treading on to the 'danger area' of the pitch in his follow-through in the first innings. Indians are not contesting the decision in private but feel Harper could have cautioned the debutant in a friendly way before taking the strong step. Indian cricketers have little doubt umpire Harper has been clearly biased against them over the years. "Remember, it was Harper who gave Sachin Tendulkar out lbw in a Test when the batsmen had ducked and was hit on his shoulder," remarked a cricketer. During a Test of the 1999-2000 tour to Australia, a short delivery from Glenn McGrath had Tendulkar looking to duck under it but it hit him on the shoulders. Umpire Harper promptly gave Tendulkar out though he was to say later 'the one (decision) that I would like the world to forget is the Sachin one.' The shocking decision was the reason the International Cricket Council (ICC) introduced neutral umpires for both ends in Test matches. Justified as the Indians are, it only underlines the reason why they should give their sanction to Umpires Decision Review System (UDRS). The Board of Control for Cricket in India (BCCI) has been steadfastly refusing the usage of UDRS technology even though worldwide it's acceptance is a norm. The UDRS technology, because of BCCI's insistence, is not being used either in the present series or the one in England which follows next month. http://www.ndtv.com/article/sports/dhoni-slams-harper-for-poor-decisions-174995

[DomainK]

Dhoni needs to STFU. We didn't take the UDRS because we wanted to rely more on the umpires' competency. We can't complain now.

[ravishingravi]

Eggxactly

[urbestfriend]

Stop whining , this is embarrassing especially when BCCI and Indian players are not accepting the UDRS because it is not 100%.

[OutStumped]

UDRS or otherwise, there is absolutely no reason for an umpire to let his guard down. Just because the Indian cricket team has opted to not use UDRS doesn't mean they're not allowed to criticise poor umpiring. Even if the UDRS was in place, it would just hit home the point the point that Daryl Harper is a poor umpire.

[urbestfriend]

UDRS or otherwise' date=' there is absolutely no reason for an umpire to let his guard down. Just because the Indian cricket team has opted to not use UDRS doesn't mean they're not allowed to criticise poor umpiring. Even if the UDRS was in place, it would just hit home the point the point that Daryl Harper is a poor umpire.[/quote'] Yeah, they are allowed to lodge an official protest, but saying that they dont want Harper to officiate in 3rd test gives a general impression that India don't want to opt for DRS because they can bully on-field umpires to give the decision in their favor.

[kabira]

The thing is would UDRS help in Dhoni's case?? How would he know it was no ball. Similarly Bravo decision, there is not hot spot, it could have gone in his favor even with UDRS. Only thing I see is Raina and bhajji decision overturned.

[Sachinism]

UDRS or otherwise' date=' there is absolutely no reason for an umpire to let his guard down. Just because the Indian cricket team has opted to not use UDRS doesn't mean they're not allowed to criticise poor umpiring. Even if the UDRS was in place, it would just hit home the point the point that Daryl Harper is a poor umpire.[/quote'] Thank you Dhoni seems to be in favour of UDRS now, so its only Goddy and BCCI opposing it

[DomainK]

Thank you Dhoni seems to be in favour of UDRS now, so its only Goddy and BCCI opposing it

Yeah. Even I think Dhoni is hinting at that only. He can't openly oppose Tendulkar. Now Sachin needs to STFU and allow the change come in.

[urbestfriend]

The thing is would UDRS help in Dhoni's case?? How would he know it was no ball. Similarly Bravo decision, there is not hot spot, it could have gone in his favor even with UDRS. Only thing I see is Raina and bhajji decision overturned.

Since when the expectation of umpires to give 100% correct decision all the time? I have rarely seen a test without at least one or two dubious decisions.

[EnterTheVoid]

Oh wow. So if going against the UDRS was not bad enough, these mob are now working overtime to get an umpire removed. Seriously, this hypocrisy knows no limits.

[asterix]

Chalo..Dhoni has seen the light and there's a possibility of him agreeing to UDRS. Only few Maharathis remaining. I don't think they'll accept UDRS till their careers are over...So maybe in couple of years time, BCCI will accept it.

[EnterTheVoid]

And are they still crying over that Tendulkar LBW 12 years ago? :WTF:

[mishra]

And are they still crying over that Tendulkar LBW 12 years ago? :WTF:

Indian media.... Read it carefully again.....

"Remember, it was Harper who gave Sachin Tendulkar out lbw in a Test when the batsmen had ducked and was hit on his shoulder," remarked a cricketer.

[OutStumped]

I'm all in for the use of UDRS, but umpires like Daryl Harper, Asoka De Silva etc should be kicked out of the elite panel, and immediately at that. Even with the UDRS in place, Asoka De Silva managed to make a mockery of it! The use of technology alongside stubborn umpires make something like the UDRS irrelevant. *Asoka De Silva has since been expelled.

[Karan114]

Harper is a rubbish umpire but that's the case for all teams, not just India. These constant bully boy threats by our players and board to try and force out umpires our players don't like are pathetic. How about the BCCI try and produce some top class international umpires instead of whining against umpires (yet terming the UDRS as "imagination") all the time? Its embarrassing that we can't produce even one umpire worthy of Elite Panel status.

[EnterTheVoid]

These guys have learnt absolutely nothing from Sydney. If another Sydney happens, are they going to stop opposing the UDRS or work to get all the umpires sacked and threaten to go home again?

[mishra]

I bet ... There is no IF... Another Sydney will happen ..This summer only.....What we need is either buy UDRS or have permanent contract with Simon Tauffel and Allem Dar....

[mishra]

Is there some academy in India which creates umpires? If it is, I dont see it doing any good job.

[EnterTheVoid]

When they come to Australia this December, they will cop some of the most vicious venom imaginable. Unfortunately, it will be the youngsters who will bear most of the brunt because the seniors can't get their priorities right.