Ben Stokes didn’t request to withdraw the overthrow runs says Kumar Dharmasena
Mumbai: Veteran umpire Dharmasena, who made a costly mistake by awarding England four extra runs after the ball ricocheted off the bat of Ben Stokes who ran hard to complete the two runs, got his team over the line, thanks to extra runs awarded by Dharmasena.
Dharmasena’s decision proved costly as England leveled with the first innings score of New Zealand who also scored 241/8 in the first innings. The extra run led to a super-over which also ended in a tie, but ICC crowned England as the World Champions due to superior boundary-count rule. After that incident, many cricketers, and umpire Simon Taufel criticised the Sri Lankan umpire for his misjudgement.
Recently, Dharmasena accepted that he made a huge blunder and he apologised quickly to the losing finalist side’s skipper Kane Williamson. The Kiwis found it hard to swallow the loss. For the Kiwis, Dharmasena’s presence has proved to be an omen for the Blackcaps as the side also lost the 2015 final when Dharmasena umpired.
Previously, the British media reported that Ben Stokes requested Dharmasena to not award England the extra four runs. Nevertheless, Dharmasena cleared the air on the overthrow incident.
Dharmasena accepts his mistake, but states that ICC must change the rule
“I made a judgmental call after consulting with my colleague Marais Erasmus. The decision was like calling a no-ball or a wide-ball and I couldn’t consult the third umpire,” said Dharmasena. I was 100 per cent sure that the batsmen had crossed. It looked as if he had almost reached the popping crease,” Dharmasena said. “I admit that the rule has to change and I also admit that I was wrong.”
“If the ball hits the stumps and goes for four, then it’s fine but the moment the ball hits the bat or the batsmen, it should be a dead ball.”
After the incident, Former Australian umpire Simon Taufel said that umpires made a huge mistake because Adil Rashid hadn’t reached the non-striker’s crease after the fielder had thrown the ball.
