The level of umpiring in Indian domestic cricket has come under scanner after a poor decision was made during the Under-23 Col CK Nayudu Trophy final between Karnataka and Uttar Pradesh.
Controversy erupted on Day 1 of the match when Karnataka opener Prakhar Chaturvedi was given out caught-behind by the on-field umpire when the wicketkeeper Aaradhya Yadav clearly dropped the ball.
The dropped catch and umpire's signal
The dismissal took place in the first session of the match when Chaturvedi tried to smash a wide delivery down the leg side bowled by pacer Shubham Mishra.
Wicketkeeper Yadav leapt to his left and caught the ball but he lost control of it after landing on the ground. The ball clearly rolled out of his gloves before Yadav quickly picked it up and appealed.
The umpire had a clear view of the catch and drop but he still raised his finger and gave it out. Chaturvedi had to walk back on 33 despite, and wasn't called back by the match officials even after the replay showed that the catch wasn't taken cleanly.
Cricket rules state that the fielder has to be in control of the catch after grabbing the ball and it should not touch the ground at all.
Fans call for ban on wicketkeeper, action against umpire
But that was clearly not the case in this match and the video of the dismissal is going viral on social media now with fans calling out the umpire, wicketkeeper Yadav and the Indian cricket board for the low standard of match officials.
Some of the users even called for a ban on the wicketkeeper Yadav for cheating while others accused the umpire and players of match-fixing.
Karnataka meanwhile, are in the driver's seat after scoring 358 runs in their first innings with Yashovardhan Parantap scoring 105 and wicketkeeper Kruthik Krishna contributing with 66 runs.
They bowled out UP for 139 to take a first innings lead of 219 thanks to Paras Gurbax Arya's five-wicket haul. Karnataka then amassed 444 for 5 by stumps on Day 3 and are ahead of UP by 663 runs now with Aneesh KV still batting on 171.
