5th India vs England Test Officials' "Common Sense" Slammed By Dinesh Karthik, Nasser Hussain. Reason Is...

The ongoing fifth and final Test between India and England is heading towards a thrilling finish. At the beginning of Day 4, India were looking like a dominating force as England needed 324 runs more to win with nine wicket in hand. However, the hosts made a stunning comeback and formed crucial partnerships. With only 35 runs left to win with three wickets in hand, the match was hung in a crucial position when the early stumps were taken due to rain and bad light.

In the final session, the rain started falling, which forced the umpires to take the players off the field. At 10:33 PM (IST), the stumps were taken and the match was sent to the fifth and the final day.

Seeing this, commentators Nasser Hussain and Dinesh Karthik slammed the match officials for forcing an early stumps as the game deserved to end in front of a jam-packed stadium.

"Most importantly for viewers and fans who paid good money, remember Monday is a workday, and this sort of series deserves a finale in front of a big crowd at an iconic cricket ground, the Oval. That would have been some finale on Sunday, you may have just knocked off 35, or you may have seen Chris Woakes walk downstairs in a sling. I'm just wondering if they could have done anything, they had like 42-43 minutes to play with and within the laws and the playing regulations," said Hussain on Sky Sports.

"If the groundsman had said no, we can't get the covers off in that time, the umpires would have to call stumps. I'm just wondering, you do have the option of the extra half hour, don't you? If you feel you can get result at 7.30, if there was 10 to win, the umpires would have given the team the extra half hour, I was just wondering if you could give the extra half hour at 6:42 (11:12 PM IST) and say to the teams, it has to come from the teams," he added.

Hearing this, Karthik also agreed with Nasser's statement and said that the officials could have used some "common sense" before taking a call.

"Little bit of rain, and I agree the rules are the rules, but I kind of like what Nasser said, that half an hour extension that you get meant, even if it meant it needed to start at 6.45, it could well have been 11, 12 hours, it could have gone either way, the crowd would have gotten to see the result, and it's a nice feeling to know that both teams have gone so hard, you give them the option, they don't want to use it, fair enough, everybody's going to come back tomorrow for whatever it's worth, but today, I think a little bit more common sense would have been to ask, I'm not saying it should happen, to ask I think is the fair thing to do," said Karthik.

Topics mentioned in this article

England Cricket Team India Cricket Team Joe Root Shubman Gill Nasser Hussain Dinesh Karthik England vs India, 2025 Cricket