BAN vs SL, 2nd T20I: Controversy Erupts as Third-umpire Makes Shocking Call to Overturn Dismissal - WATCH

The umpiring system has come under scrutiny once again. This time it was in the 2nd T20I between Bangladesh and Sri Lanka taking place at the Sylhet International Cricket Stadium. The Decision Review System (DRS) has come under the scanner as the third-umpire made a blunder during the game.

In the fourth over, Bangladesh’s Soumya Sarkar was dismissed as the on-field umpire raised the finger to rule him out. The batter had nicked the short-pitched delivery bowled by the Sri Lankan pacer, Binura Fernando. Sarkar had gone for the review pretty quickly but was also making his way back to the stands, signalling that he might have gotten the edge.

The big screen at the venue had shown the replay which had a clear spike on the ultra-edge as the ball went past the bat.

The third umpire, Masudur Rahman suggested that the spike had come from some external sound as opposed to the edge and also mentioned there was a clear gap between the bat and ball. However, the point of contention was that the ball had gone past the bat when the spike was displayed.

The usual protocol during these instances was to give the decision as out. But the TV umpire asked to overturn the decision and the Sri Lankan players were not happy at all.

Sarkar was batting on 14 during the incident and went on to be dismissed after scoring 26 runs in the seventh over.

Earlier during Sri Lanka’s home fixtures against Afghanistan, their skipper Wanindu Hasaranga had made scathing remarks on the umpire during the third T20I. He had spoken after the match and commented,” “That kind of thing shouldn’t happen in an international match,” Hasaranga had said. “If it had been close [to waist height], that’s not a problem. But a ball that’s going so high… it would have hit the batsman’s head if it had gone a little higher. If you can’t see that, that umpire isn’t suited to international cricket. It would be much better if he did another job.”

This led to the captain being suspended for both games against Bangladesh and also a fine of 50 per cent of his match fees due to the run-in.