Aussies dudded again in third Test as 'embarrassing' farce gets even worse

The umpiring in the third Test between Australia and India has left much to be desired, and things didn't get any better on the second day's play on Thursday. Umpires Joel Wilson and Nitin Manon were widely criticised for their performances on day one, with a number of incorrect decisions having to be overturned by DRS.

Manon missed two dismissals in the very first over of the Test match, with Mitchell Starc getting Rohit Sharma caught behind and lbw within the space of the first four balls. But Manon gave Sharma not out on both occasions, and the Aussies opted not to use their reviews in the first over of the match.

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Things got even worse for the officials on day two, with many believing Cameron Green was dudded by Wilson's on-field call. Green was batting well and made it to 21 before he was adjudged lbw after a ball from Umesh Yadav struck him on the back thigh.

Green used a review after Wilson gave him out on-field, with DRS predicting the ball was clipping the leg bail by the barest of margins. It meant the decision remained 'umpire's call' and Green had to depart because of Wilson's original decision.

But the farcical nature of the DRS and the 'on-field call' system was later exposed in India's second innings, after Wilson made a number of errors. Nathan Lyon trapped Ravi Jadeja and Ravi Ashwin plumb in front of the stumps, but Wilson gave both not out.

The Aussies used reviews for both - and both were shown to be out. Lyon and captain Steve Smith were so sure that Ashwin was out that they opted for a review without even discussing it, with Smith expressing his disbelief at Wilson's explanation as to why he gave it not out initially.

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Wilson appeared to believe Ashwin had inside-edged the ball onto his pad, but replays showed the ball cannoning into his front pad before the bat. It left fans and commentators furious that Wilson had given Green out on-field but hadn't raised the finger for Jadeja and Ashwin.

Had Wilson given Green not out it would have stayed that way if India had used DRS. Discussing the dismissal on Fox Sports, Aussie greats Mark Waugh and Brad Haddin suggested that Wilson gave Green out on-field because he knew India didn't have any reviews left.

" That was a real changing point. That's probably given not out most days of the week," Waugh said. " The umpire was probably thinking Australia have got reviews, India haven't, so I'll give it out then leave it up to Australia to review."

Haddin added: "It was a big call, that Cameron Green lbw, that was a 50-50 at best. The reason (the umpire) has gone for that is India had no referrals left, and Australia had three, so that was an unlucky dismissal."

Cricket fans will remember that Wilson gave Ben Stokes not out on an lbw appeal from Lyon just one ball before he hit the winning runs in the famous fourth Ashes Test in 2019. Replays showed that Stokes should have been given out, which would have handed Australia the win instead of England.

But the Aussies had burned all their reviews and couldn't use DRS, helping Stokes survive and hit the winning runs after an incredible knock of 135 not out. If Wilson had empoyed the same thinking that Waugh and Haddin suggested he did on Thursday, he would have given Stokes out on-field because England still had a review to use. Alas he didn't and the series finished 2-2 instead of 3-1 to Australia.

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