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Besides Steve Bucknor, if there was an umpire the Indian cricket staff just isn’t a fan of is Daryl Harper of Australia. The former ICC umpire was the one who gave Sachin Tendulkar out ‘Shoulder Before Wicket’ throughout India’s 1999 tour of Australia and made some doubtful calls when it got here to Indian cricketers on quite a lot of events.
In 2011, officiating in his closing collection, Harper decided that didn’t go too nicely with former captain MS Dhoni. During India’s tour of West Indies, within the first Test of the collection held in Kingston, Jamaica, Harper banned Praveen Kumar – making his Test debut – from bowling within the the rest of the innings after the India seamer was operating all the way down to the center of the pitch into the protected space.
“Maybe he was letting off steam and hadn’t appreciated me removing Test debutant Praveen Kumar from the attack for repeatedly running down the middle of the pitch into the protected area,” Harper instructed Asianet Newsable. “I recall MS suggesting I should have been more lenient to the newcomer, but Praveen had already played in 52 ODIs before his first Test so he knew the Laws. I have a very good memory and recall MS responding to me when I informed him that the bowler was banned for the rest of the innings.”
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Turns out, Kumar wasn’t the primary India seamer who was stopped from bowling halfway by means of the innings. During India’s tour of Zimbabwe in 2000, Harper had handed out the identical sanction to former India left-arm fast Ashish Nehra for a similar offence. Dhoni could haven’t been a part of the Indian staff again then, however he was conscious of Harper’s being strict when it got here to bowlers operating down the wicket.
“’We’ve had trouble with you before, Harper,’ were Dhoni’s exact words. I laughed aloud heartily as I wandered away to square-leg which probably wasn’t a respectful response on my behalf,” Harper added.
“Maybe MS knew that Praveen Kumar was only the second Indian bowler to be banned in a Test match for repeatedly running into the protected area. Maybe MS knew that the first Indian bowler to be banned had been Ashish Nehra in a Test in Bulawayo in 2000. Maybe MS knew the name of the umpire who had taken that rare action.”
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Even although India went on to win the Kingston Test by 63 runs, Harper made just a few doubtful selections, and Dhoni made positive he wouldn’t miss to say it. “If the correct decisions were made the game would have finished much earlier and I would have been in the hotel by now,” Dhoni had mentioned on the post-match press convention, and Harper felt the captain ought to have been punished for criticizing the choices. Harper even went on to say that Dhoni tried to intimidate him, though nothing concrete ever originated from his claims.
“After the Test was won by India, MS was reported to have said to the media assembled that the players would have been back in their hotel rooms earlier if the umpires had made the correct decisions,” Harper mentioned. “It’s true… but they would have been back earlier if the Indian fieldsmen had taken their catches as well. Sometimes I wished I could have attended those post-match press conferences on a regular basis in order to set the record straight.”
Harper was alleged to officiate within the remaining two matches, however the controversy led him to give up prematurely, ending his profession on 96 Tests. He was upset on the ICC not taking any motion in opposition to Dhoni and likewise due to the errors he had dedicated by means of the Test.
“It did turn out to be my final Test, but my contract was due to expire two weeks later after the third Test in Dominica so the end was close, regardless of any comments by MS Dhoni or anyone else,” Harper added.
“I accepted that I had made two incorrect decisions during the match and some other moments could not be determined with the available technology. I didn’t have a clean sheet and that always disappointed me when it happened, but my decision-making statistics in Tests with India were second to none at the time.”
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