Sri Lanka's Dimuth Karunaratne trolled by umpire Rod Tucker on-air
Dimuth Karunaratne walks back to the pavilion after he was dismissed by Umesh Yadav
What's the story?
Umpire Rod Tucker took a subtle dig at Sri Lankan opener Dimuth Karunaratne for reviewing a plumb LBW decision during his team's first innings on day 2 of the first Test between India and Sri Lanka at Galle.
Tucker, whose voice was heard on air, said that the review doesn't like a great one and it looks like the ball is going on to hit the middle and leg stump.
Also read: Sri Lanka vs India, First Test- Live
“This doesn’t look like a great review does it? It looks very much like it’s hitting middle and leg stump,” Tucker said when the opener reviewed the decision.
In case you didn't know...
Choosing to bat first, India put on 600 in the first innings, thanks to centuries from Shikhar Dhawan and Cheteshwar Pujara, along with crucial knocks from the bats of Ajinkya Rahane, Hardik Pandya and Mohammed Shami.
In return, the Lankan batsmen kept losing wickets at regular intervals as they were dismissed for just 291 in the first innings, giving India a lead of 309. Dilruwan Perera top-scored for the hosts with an unbeaten 92 with former skipper Angelo Mathews got out for a stroke-filled 84. Ravindra Jadeja was the pick of the Indian bowlers with three wickets while Mohammed Shami accounted for two.
Also read: Upul Tharanga gets out in bizarre fashion
In spite of a first innings lead of 309 runs, Virat Kohli decided not to enforce follow-on and India went into tea on day 3 at 56/2 with an overall lead of 365 runs.
Details
In the second over of Sri Lanka's first innings, Dimuth Karunaratne hit a boundary off the first ball bowled by Umesh Yadav but was dismissed on the fifth delivery.
Also read: Ravi Ashwin breaks 36-year-old record on day 2
Umesh trapped him in front of the stumps and the umpire Bruce Oxenford had no issues in raising his finger. The batsman reviewed it after discussing with his batting partner but the replays suggested that there was no edge before the ball hit the pad, the ball pitched on line, hit him on line and went on to hit the middle of middle stumps.
Video
The dismissal is available from 7:02 to 8:36 in the above video.
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Author's Take
Without a doubt, the review taken by the batsman wasn't necessary as it looked plumb real time and with no inside edge, the batsman could have just walked back to the pavilion without going upstairs.
Rod Tucker, on the other hand, could have controlled his emotions and should have been aware of him being on-air.