England riled by TV umpire's swift decisions on dismal day against India

England’s frustrations boiled over on the first day of the third Test after Joe Root and several of his senior teammates questioned the decision-making of the TV umpire, Chettithody Shamshuddin. It set off a sour and frustrating day for England after they won the toss and were bowled out for 112. By stumps, India were 99 for three.

“It’s very frustrating,” said Zak Crawley, who top-scored for England with 53. “We’re behind in the game and we need those little 50-50 calls to go our way, and it seemed like none of them went our way today.”

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During a long and heated conversation with the on-field umpires, Root complained about the way Shamshuddin had turned down two of England’s appeals on review, one for a catch by Ben Stokes off Shubman Gill, the other for a stumping off Rohit Sharma by Ben Foakes.

The England and Wales Cricket Board explained that Root and Chris Silverwood both spoke to the match referee, Javagal Srinath, after play to ask for more consistency from the TV umpires, and that Srinath had assured them Root was “asking the right questions” of the umpires.

It was not the decisions themselves England objected to, but the speed with which Shamshuddin made them. On the stump microphones Root was heard saying: “We just want consistency.”

Crawley pointed out that when the TV umpire had reviewed Cheteshwar Pujara’s catch off Jack Leach earlier in the day “it seemed like they looked at it from five or six different angles” but then when Stokes claimed one off Gill, “they looked at it from one angle, and that’s where the frustrations lie”. He added: “I can’t say whether they were out or not out, but I think the frustrations lie with not checking more thoroughly.”

Crawley joked that from now on England would “try and make it a bit easier for the umpires and take the wickets without the 50-50s”.

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It was not the first time the TV umpiring had sparked arguments in this series. In the second Test, England felt robbed of a wicket when Anil Chaudhary failed to look at all the available angles of their appeal against Ajinkya Rahane, and Virat Kohli also had a heated exchange about an lbw appeal against Root that was turned down on review.

The incidents have prompted questions about the need for specialist TV umpires. After meeting this week the MCC’s world cricket committee, a body of 14 current and former cricketers and umpires, noted that the “TV umpire’s role has come under added scrutiny”, and stressed the importance of “the neutrality of match referees and TV umpires”. It also said the International Cricket Council should explore the viability of using specialist TV umpires at a central location for all matches, rather than having them based at the ground.