Rex Clementine in Galle

Cricket’s finest writer Christopher Martin-Jenkins went onto become the President of MCC. It was he who invited Kumar Sangakkara to deliver the Cowdrey Lecture at Lord’s and it remains the best annual Home of Cricket speech ever. CMJ had a superb sense of humour to drive home some harsh truths about the sport. His take on umpires was interesting. He once wrote, ‘I never questioned the integrity of an umpire. Their eyesight, yes.’

There’s nothing wrong with Kumar Dharmasena’s eye-sight but he must be the first person to admit that he’s going through his leanest patch as an official. Several of his decisions have come under the spotlight particularly two of those that determined the outcome of two series.

Dinesh Chandimal was on 30 when he nicked Mitchell  Starc to the keeper. The only guy who didn’t  hear the nick was Dharmasena and of course Chandimal, who tricked the umpire by shaking his head. Australia could have reviewed but they had burned all their reviews just before that and had to bite the bullet.

Chandimal just didn’t stop after scoring a hundred but he went onto get a double ton and while doing  so rubbed salt into Aussie wounds. His onslaught of Starc, whom he hit for three sixes out of the ground to reach the milestone was the last straw. You could see the pain in the Aussie faces. They were graceful to shake hands with the batsman for this was Chandimal at his best. Nothing from Starc though. He certainly has an axe to grind with both Chandimal and Dharmasena, the former for not walking and the latter for being incompetent.

Take nothing away from Chandimal though. After the let off he batted superbly and was a treat to watch, particularly that last wicket stand of 49 runs in which Kasun  Rajitha contributed zero.

If Sri Lanka were laughing ear to ear in the Australia Test, they were reminded that  this game is a great leveler in the next Test match against Pakistan. They were feeling the pinch on this occasion as Dharmasena turned down a leg before wicket shout of Abdullah Shafique. He was on four and went onto score a match winning 160 not out as Pakistan chased down a 342, a new record in Galle.

Shafique’s was an umpire’s call though and Sri Lanka had not much reason to grumble. Anyway Shafique was dropped thrice during his innings. So, Sri Lanka had themselves more than Dharmasena to blame. However, with Dimuth Karunaratne copping an almost similar dismissal in the second innings, you felt that the umpire was lacking consistency.

There were many other decisions that Dharmasena had got wrong. During the four Tests in  Galle, four different umpires officiated along with Dharmasena who being the local umpire stood in all four games. Nitin Menon, Rod Tucker, Michael Gough and Marias Erasmus had decent games and Dharmasena’s errors were being exposed badly especially when the other umpire wasn’t getting many decisions wrong. Wonder whether  fatigue had taken to Dharmasena?

It’s been a great run for Kumar Dharmasena as an elite panel umpire. He was a banker at HNB when his former skipper Arjuna Ranatunga as Board Chairman fast-tracked him as an international umpire. There was a howl of protest by the umpiring fraternity and the matter went up to Sports Minister Gamini Lokuge. Arjuna stood his ground backing his former team mate. His argument was that in a bid to encourage former Test cricketers into umpiring you had to give them incentives. Fair point.

But when the same Ranatunga, who was in Galle to witness the first Test between Australia and Sri Lanka, fears that his man is losing the plot then Mr. Dharmasena will have  to do some soul searching.

We all remember West Indies winning the T-20 World Cup in 2016 after Carlos Brathwaite smashed Ben Stokes out of the park in that maniac last over. Not many remember that Dharmasena had saved the Windies thanks to his attention to minute details. That  was his highest point in umpiring. The lowest point came three years later at Lord’s when he messed up the final.

All umpires make mistakes but Dharmasena is making them regularly. It’s been a great ride to see him making tremendous progress as one of world’s top umpires. But his recent blunders are too glaring. Umpires like Ruchira Palliyaguru and Ravindra Wimalasiri are waiting on the wings for an opportunity.