Kumar Dharmasena now has admitted that he made a “judgemental error” in awarding a run extra for England in the final of the World Cup.
The Sri Lankan umpire awarded six runs instead of five during the final over of the World Cup where the throw from Guptill deflected to the boundary after hitting the bat of Ben Stokes, helping England to tie the match and later tie the super over and win the trophy by the difference in the number of boundaries.
Former Sri Lankan Test player Dharmasena told the Sunday Times he did not have the benefit of television replays which showed the batsmen had not crossed.
“I agree that there was an error of judgement when I see it on TV replays now,” Dharmasena, who was umpiring the final with South Africa’s Marais Erasmus, told the local Sunday Times.
“But we did not have the luxury of TV replays at the ground and I do not regret the decision I made.”
Dharmasena said he signalled six after consulting the other match officials. “So, I did consult the leg umpire (Erasmus) through the communication system which is heard by all other umpires and the match referee,” he told the newspaper.
“While they cannot check TV replays, they all confirmed that the batsmen have completed the second run. This is when I made my decision.”
Several players and umpires have criticised the decision including the former umpire Taufel who said it was a judgemental error but went on to defend the umpires for the lack of technology support.
Now, the clear question is, what is the use of all the technologies when you cannot use one during the time like this, something that had decided the result of the World Cup final. Now, both the teams have to live with it and it is not going to be easy at all considering how cricket is being followed in the world.
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