India victim of dubious umpiring decisions in Dambulla

Though India comprehensively lost their tri-series match against Sri Lanka in Dambulla, they were distinctly unlucky to be at the receiving end of at least four dodgy decisions on Sunday.

While Yuvraj Singh, the lone Indian batsman who put up a semblance of a fight with 38, appeared to be the worst case, Suresh Raina, Dinesh Karthik and Virender Sehwag were the other batsmen who got dubious decisions.

While television replays in the case of Yuvraj's leg before decision showed the ball would have missed the stump, the decisions on the other three batsmen were not conclusive enough.

Of the four decisions that come under the scanner, three were given by local umpire Kumar Dharmasena, while Pakistani Asad Rauf gave one.

Former India Test player Arun Lal, who was at the commentary box when Raina was given out caught behind, said, "We did not hear any sound and there was none in the snickometer also."

His co-commentator Ranil Abeynaike, a former Sri Lankan player, also said that the Indians were unlucky.

"They were unlucky. They have been affected by some bad decisions of the umpires. But what can you do," he said.

At the post-match press conference, asked about the umpiring decisions, Sri Lankan captain Kumar Sangakkara said if any side wants to get a fair deal then Umpire Decision Referral System (UDRS) should be applied in every match.

"The only reason I believe why we did not have referral system throughout the Test series and through this series was because India did not want the referrals. If everything has to be fair use technology, make it even. The ICC should make DRS compulsory in all matches," he said.

Image: Sri Lanka's captain Kumar Sangakkara (right) celebrates after taking a catch to dismiss India's Dinesh Karthik

Photograph: Reuters