Suryakumar Yadav’s celebration of a spectacular half-century in his first innings in the T20I with India was interrupted by a controversial third referee decision in the fourth T20 International against England in Ahmedabad.
Suryakumar was unlucky enough to be eliminated in the 14th after repeated replays of Dawid Malan’s catch off Sam Curran by the television referee. A portion of the ball appeared to have touched the ground, but the television referee did not overrule the outfield referee’s decision due to lack of conclusive evidence.
गजब है! टेक्नोलॉजी का क्या फायदा जब ग्राउंड अंपायर के साथ ही जाना है। साफ नॉट आउट था।??#INDvENG #INDvsENG pic.twitter.com/ZTEH9gxfpa
– Shashank Pradhan (@PradhanShashank) March 18, 2021
Suryakumar Yadav crushed a fifty blister maiden and propelled India to 185 of 8. Replacing the injured Ishan Kishan, Suryakumar hit six fours and three sixes on his 57th 31 ball for the highest score for India after being asked to hit. He made his debut in the second T20I but did not hit in that game. He did not play in the third game.
Those from the cricket fraternity and fans took to Twitter to criticize the third referee for the controversial firing:
Third referee while making that decision. # INDvENGt20 #suryakumar pic.twitter.com/JJp2NldcI8
– Virender Sehwag (@virendersehwag) March 18, 2021
Violets are blue, so is the sky
Estimated @icc ‘soft signal’ why?
#IndvEng #suryakumar #Not out pic.twitter.com/cCDYXjpMVt– Wasim Jaffer (@ WasimJaffer14) March 18, 2021
Fingers are not under that ball, sir! ?? #INDvENG
– Chloe-Amanda Bailey (@ChloeAmandaB) March 18, 2021
Sorry, but Dawid Malan dropped that for me … the ball was on the ground! I mean come on ??♂️ #INDvENG ?
– Ranveer Singh (@RanveerOfficial) March 18, 2021
There is no conclusive evidence ☹️
– Indians of Bombay (@mipaltan) March 18, 2021
Suryakumar hit Archer for a six on the first ball he faced in international cricket, scooping up the gaps and finding the limits to keep the score moving, though England’s bowlers were by no means misplaced. India’s 45-1 after the power play was not a top-tier effort, but Suryakumar hit Rashid with a six and a four in the seventh to overtake starter KL Rahul (14).
India was 75 out of 3 midway with Suryakumar doing very well. He reached his fifty international singles with just 28 submissions, with a four ahead of Rashid in 12th.
.

She is a freelance blogger, writer, and speaker, and writes for various entertainment magazines.

