Poor umpiring costs Chris Gayle his wicket

The World Cup game between Australia and West Indies, on Thursday, witnessed quite a few questionable calls from umpires Chirs Gaffney and Ruchira Palliyagurge. One such call resulted in the downfall of West Indian superstar Chris Gayle when he was adjudged leg before wicket to Mitchell Starc, on what should have been a free hit.

Gayle, who smashed a quick-fire 21 and was looking set to take the Australians on, was hit on his shin by a seething yorker by Starc to be ruled out LBW by umpire Chris Gaffney. The big left-hander's call to review the decision paid no dividend as the replay showed the ball clipping the leg stump to send him back to the hut on the on-field umpire's call.

However, drama unfolded a few moments later when another TV replay showed Mitchell Starc clearly overstepping on the previous delivery. Had Gaffney picked the no-ball, the delivery that dismissed Chris Gayle would have ended up being a free hit, thereby giving a reprieve to the Windies batsman.

It may be noted that Gayle had survived twice before in the innings, when DRS came to his rescue to overturn the on-field calls that adjudged him out. In another forgettable display of umpiring, Ruchira Palliyagurge ruled Jason Holder out leg before wicket to Adam Zampa, while the DRS replay showed the ball to be missing the leg stump by a significant margin.

Given the fierce competition between the sides in the ongoing marquee tournament, the last thing one would expect is the umpiring standards to stoop low. The ICC needs to step in and minimise the occurrence of such errors, given the high stakes on offer.