On Saturday, Sri Lanka and Afghanistan met in the Asia Cup 2022 opening match. The tournament is something to cherish for the fans of both teams amid the crisis their countries are going through. Sri Lanka though didn’t have the start they had expected as in the very first over they lost two wickets. In the next over, the Third Umpire Jayaraman Madanagopal rubbed salt on Lankans’ wounds by making a controversial decision against Pathum Nissanka.
Third Umpire’s bizarre decision in SL vs AFG, Asia Cup opener
It all happened in the last ball of 2nd over when Naveen Ul Haq’s slower ball deceived Pathum Nissanka and the ball reached to the man behind the stumps. Afghanistan players appealed and on-field Umpire Anil Choudhary didn’t take much time to raise his finger. However, the batter was in disbelief and chose to go upstairs after having words with his teammate.
The replay showed it was just a murmur on the ‘Ultraedge’. However, it felt like the Third Umpire was seeing a different screen. “I see a spike as the ball passes the bat. Satisfied bat involved,” says the TV umpire. And Anil Choudhary had to stay with his original decision but it definitely wasn’t a fair decision.
— Cricket fan (@Cricketfan093) August 27, 2022
Where is the spike ? "I have not seen something like this" says Sanjay Manjekar as Pathum Nissanka controversially given out #AFGvSL pic.twitter.com/57CHdfBGQe
— Azzam Ameen (@AzzamAmeen) August 27, 2022
Never saw any spike on the ultra edge re Pathum Nissanka's review. Horrible decision by the 3rd Umpire Jayaraman.
— Roshan Abeysinghe (@RoshanCricket) August 27, 2022
This is not the first time Umpire Jayaraman Madanagopal has invited controversy. The Indian umpire’s decision-making was also questioned during IPL 2022 season. While umpiring on the field during KKR vs DC match, Jayaraman gave Ajinkya Rahane wrongly out in two consecutive balls, however, the batter survived after taking two successful reviews. But this time he committed a howler at the Third Umpire’s box where technology assists you.
Sri Lankans were already on the backfoot after suffering three blows in the first two overs. Their most dependable batter in the shortest format Bhanuka Rajapaksa showed intent but his gritty knock of 38 is 29 balls was ended by Mohammad Nabi’s direct hit. When this article was posted Sri Lanka were 70 per 8 after 13 overs.
