India vs England 2020-21, 3rd Test (D/N): Root and co. frustrated with third umpire's inconsistency

Visitor England is not having the best of time in the ongoing four-Test series against India for the Anthony de Mello Trophy. The third day-night Test, being held at the redeveloped Narendra Modi Stadium in Ahmedabad, has pushed Joe Root and co onto the backfoot on Day 1, on Wednesday, itself.

While England itself was bundled out for 112, things got even frustrating when it dropped a couple of catches during the Indian innings. However, that was not the end of England's misery, as the third umpire supposedly rubbed salt to its wounds with inconsistency while making the decision, especially during a couple of close calls, which could have gone the English's way.

In one of the instances, opener Shubman Gill was caught at the slips by Ben Stokes. As the umpires referred it upstairs, the soft signal was given out. Meanwhile, the third umpire, C Shamshuddin, looked at it from an angle and deemed that the catch was not clean and bounced while Stokes grabbed it. Clearly, Stokes was left surprised while Root argued that multiple angles could have given a better judgement.

In another instance, fellow opener Rohit Sharma had a stumping appeal from Ben Foakes. As Shamshuddin checked it, he referred only to the side-on angle, which indicated that Rohit might have dragged his feet right on time before Foakes clipped the bails. However, a view from the stumps camera could have given better and conclusive evidence, as Root once again had a chat with the on-field umpire, Nitin Menon.

At the end of the day's play, Root and head coach Chris Silverwood paid a visit to match referee Javagal Srinath and expressed their frustrations on both the decisions, besides asserting that the calls made by Shamshuddin were supposedly a hurried one. It was not the first instance, as the second Test, too, saw a couple of similar decisions going India's way.

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"The England captain and head coach spoke with the match referee after play. The captain and head coach acknowledged the challenges the umpires faced and asked respectfully that in making any decisions, there was consistency in the process. The match referee said the captain was asking the right questions of the umpires," an English spokesperson was quoted as saying by ESPNCricinfo.

When it came to a similar dismissal of English opener Zak Crawley, as Cheteshwar Pujara claimed a low catch, Shamshuddin referred to multiple camera angles before giving the decision in favour of India. The opener, too, expressed his and his side's frustration on the same.

"When we batted, Jack Leach had a similar sort of one where it didn't quite carry and it seemed like they looked at it from five or six different angles. When we were fielding, it seemed like they looked at it from one angle. That's where the frustrations lie. I can't say whether they were out or not out, but I think the frustrations lie with not checking more thoroughly," he said.

Notably, the International Cricket Council has allowed local umpires over neutral umpires in the format, owing to the prevailing pandemic, which has limited the visits of overseas umpires. Also, to keep a check on the inattentive prejudice, the number of reviews in an innings has been increased by one.

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