Only three out of 140 clear BCCI's umpiring test

The Board of Control for Cricket in India (BCCI) held a level-2 exam for umpires in India last month in Ahmedabad. The exam proved to be a tough assignment for the majority of the applicants as only three out of 140 aspirants made the cut. The exam was meant to select umpires for women’s and junior matches, categorized as Group D, which is the first step towards umpiring in international games.

The test consisted of 200 marks, with 90 being the cut-off. The marks were distributed in four segments – 00 marks for the written test, 35 for viva and video each, and 30 for the physical test. The physical test was to determine the fitness levels of the participants with the increasing demands in the modern game, while the video test featured match footage related to umpiring decisions.

Most of the aspirants performed diligently in the practical tests but stumbled in the written test, which comprised bewildering questions for the applicants. Out of the 37 flummoxing questions in the exam, these are the three samples : 

Q – What will you do if the shadow of a pavilion, tree or fielder starts falling on the pitch and the batsman starts complaining?

A – The shadow of the pavilion or tree should be disregarded. Fielders should be asked to remain stationary, otherwise, the umpire should call a dead ball.

Q – You are satisfied that a player has a genuine injury on the index finger of his bowling hand and removing the tape will result in bleeding. Will you still ask him to remove the protective tape while bowling?

A – Bowler needs to remove the bandage if he wants to bowl.

Q – The striker hits a fair delivery, which lodges in the helmet of the short-leg fielder. Because of the impact, the helmet comes off the fielder’s head and the ball is still stuck in the helmet. The helmet falls…and the fielder catches it before it falls to the ground. On appeal, what is your decision?

A – The correct decision is “Not Out”.

The high standards of the questions were deliberate by the board to ensure that only the top candidates cleared the exam. A BCCI official claimed that the candidates put forward by the state associations were not good enough to officiate in the board’s games and need to have more knowledge pertaining to the game to officiate at a higher level.

“Umpiring is a tough job. Only those who have the passion for it can really excel. The candidates sent by state associations weren’t up to the mark. They need to have this knowledge if they want to do the board’s games,” the BCCI official told The Indian Express.