Twitter Reaction: Third umpire Shamshuddin faces the heat on Twitter

Third umpire Shamsuddin today found himself in the line of fire after he left the fans frustrated by giving Ajinkya Rahane caught off the bowling of Tim Southee during the ongoing 2nd ODI between India and New Zealand at the Feroz Shah Kotla Stadium, Delhi. In the 19th over, on-field umpire Bruce Oxenford found himself in a state of confusion after Corey Anderson grabbed a low running catch off Tim Southee’s bowling. The effort was fantastic by the fielder.

Rahane failed to dispatch a bouncer properly. The ball failed to get the distance and Anderson came in running swiftly to tough low chance. At first glance, it appeared to be taken. However, Oxenford was slightly unconvinced and decided to seek the help of umpire Shamsuddin upstairs.

The soft decision was out. The third umpire needed conclusive evidence that the ball had bounced before Anderson collected it to overturn the soft decision. The replays showed it bounced, but the confusing part was whether the hands were beneath the ball or on the turf at the time when the ball bounced.

The third umpire could not come to a conclusion as replays kept running for a prolonged time. Eventually, it seemed that Shamsuddin didn’t get conclusive evidence and gave Rahane out. The fans were left dejected as Rahane walked back quietly towards the pavilion. The decision could have been not out had the soft signal from Oxenford would have been not out. But Rahane was unfortunate and had to go back. Twitter obviously was roaring and the umpires became the target.

3rd umpire has to be absolutely certain on-field umpire was wrong before changing it. If soft signal was not out, would have stayed that way

— Harsha Bhogle (@bhogleharsha) October 20, 2016

And so, the 3rd umpire was right because he could not conclusively say it was not-out.

— Harsha Bhogle (@bhogleharsha) October 20, 2016

Field umpire from 50yards is unsure nd goes to third umpire and gives the soft signal of Out. That's pathetic.. https://t.co/FpxaLGVMqI

— Jay Thakkar (@noddy_jay) October 20, 2016

How can it be soft signal out when the fielder himself was not sure #indvsnz

— Rishi (@Im_rishi7) October 20, 2016

Is the umpire blind or what? Controversial Ajinkya #Rahane's dismissal. #indvsnz pic.twitter.com/5j6dmAT9WQ

— Sarath Chandran (@ImSarathC) October 20, 2016

Don't understand the need of soft signal. When a TV umpire is not sure even in repeated slo-mo, then how can he judge with naked eye #IndvNZ

— vinay (@imvinay3) October 20, 2016

TV umpire who saw several replays was nt sure abt catch bt field umpires was damn sure abt it to give OUT ! @BCCI @ajinkyarahane88 #IndVsNZ

— Manish Khade (@imManish_rk) October 20, 2016

How can the umpire be 70-30 out,when the fielder who caught it was 50-50 #indvsnz

— daansh (@daansh) October 20, 2016

How on EARTH does it make sense that the field umpire's decision carries more weight than the 3rd umpire's (2/n)

— Bhaskar Chawla (@BhaskarSirius) October 20, 2016

Rahane was not out. The ball bounced. How the hell can an umpire give a soft signal from that far away?? #indvsnz

— Ashwin Jayakumar (@ashwinjk90) October 20, 2016

Third Umpire gave a third rate decision and declared Rahane out despite inconclusive video. Anderson didn't pick up the ball cleanly.

— Pramod Kumar Singh (@SinghPramod2784) October 20, 2016

If modern technology can't give you a definite answer, how is the umpire's soft signal to be taken into consideration? #INDvNZ #indvsnz

— The Wily Crickster (@WilyCrickster) October 20, 2016

If Corey Anderson didn't know that he caught cleanly or not then How On field Umpire Bruce Knew that Rahane was out @cricketaakash ?????

— Mohit Agarwal (@moyaagarwal) October 20, 2016

Rahane's decision: Since the soft signal was out, third umpire needed conclusive evidence to overturn the decision #INDvNZ

— Sarang Bhalerao (@bhaleraosarang) October 20, 2016

No way on field Umpire could have seen that catch. Making soft call only on the gut feeling? Is that fair? #INDvsNZ

— Adwait Kulkarni (@I_Sherlocked) October 20, 2016