In a surprise turn of events, the final of the ongoing Ranji Trophy season saw a single umpire officiating the Day Two of the match between Saurashtra and Bengal in Rajkot on Monday. The umpires for the game, C Shamsuddin and KN Ananthapadhmanabhan, took the field on Day Two of the ongoing game.
When Saurashtra lost one of their wickets, one of the fielders from the Bengal side threw the ball towards the umpire but Shamsuddin was not looking in the direction of the ball. As a result, the ball struck him hard on the lower abdomen and he was taken off the field because of the excruciating pain.
However, everyone was wondering how the match would be officiated. Interestingly, Shamsuddin’s partner, Ananthapadhmanabhan was officiating the game single-handedly for a full-session as there was a scarcity of match officials. Piyush Kakkar, a local umpire from Rajkot, was available for the game but could not take part in officiating the game. According to the rules of BCCI, the umpire in the games should be from a neutral venue and since Kakkar was from Rajkot, he was not allowed to officiate the game.
Shamsuddin did not take the field for the whole and later it was confirmed that he has been ruled out of the game due to an injury. The umpire was taken to a hospital for scans and it was better to give him some rest as there is a busy schedule coming up.
“He did not look comfortable taking the field because of pain, so we took him to the hospital and he underwent a medical examination. He was advised a week’s rest, so he will return home,” a senior Saurashtra Cricket Board official said.
S Ravi, who has been officiating international games for quite a while now, was also not allowed to take the field because of the limited DRS available. However, he did walk out to help Ananthapadhmanabhan after Lunch as Shamsuddin was seen sitting in the TV umpire’s room.
An umpire from Mumbai, Yashwant Barde, has been called up as Shamsuddin’s replacement and is currently officiating the match on Day three of the game.
As far as the match is concerned, Saurashtra piled up a massive total of 425 in the first innings. Arpit Vasavada scored an amazing century while three of Saurashtra’s other batter also crossed the 50-run mark. Bengal’s Akash Deep was the pick of the bowlers as he picked up four wickets after bowling 35 bowlers.
Currently, Bengal has scored 24 runs in 8 overs and have not lost any wicket.
Brief Scores:
Saurashtra 425/10 (Arpit Vasavada 106, Cheteshwar Pujara 66; Akash Deep 4/98) in first innings.
Bengal 24/0 (Sudip Gharami 18*, Abhimanya Easwaran 7*)
