Tim Paine, for the second time in the same Test match, was at the center of an umpiring decision that evoked a debate.
On day three of the second Test between Australia and India at Melbourne Cricket Ground, the Australian captain was ruled out caught behind off Ravindra Jadeja’s bowling in the last session.
Paine was given not out by on-field umpire Paul Reiffel, but Ajinkya Rahane immediately went upstairs. The Indians seemed confident they had heard a noise but Paine suggested he had not hit it. However, while the Hotspot showed nothing, there was a somewhat delayed spike on Real-time Snicko technology. The TV umpire deemed that to be evidence enough to give Paine out.
Former international umpire Simon Taufel, as part of 7 Cricket’s broadcast team, explained that umpires are required to look at as part of the conclusive evidence protocols. The first part is to see evident deviation. If there is not an obvious edge, then Hotspot comes into play. The final redundancy is RTS. And even within RTS, the umpire will look at one frame after the ball passes the bat too, as part of conclusive evidence.
“If the ball is close to the bat (or next to the bat), and there is a spike on RTS while the ball goes past the bat or upto one frame past the bat, then that is deemed to conclusive evidence,” Taufel, regarded as one of the best umpires in the game’s history, said.
Paine, however, was livid as he walked off the field.
There was more debate around the umpiring on a day when a few debatable decisions were made.
Should Tim Paine have been given runout? Twitter questions Aussie umpire’s controversial decision
The Tim Paine controversy in the first innings of the match was around a run-out call but that time, technology had gone in the Australian captain’s favour.
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