Causes for complaints

BANGALORE, Jan 4 (Reuters): A rash of debatable decisions which have gone against India in their Test series against Australia has left local commentators questioning the quality of the officials.

Leading the list of complaints are the decisions that went in favour of double-century maker Justin Langer on Monday, the second day of the final Test in Sydney.

"You've got to wonder what it is about Langer that has umpires, neutral and otherwise, losing all sense of perspective," commentator Prem Panicker wrote on Internet channel Rediff-On-The-Net (http://www.rediff.com).

"Thrice LBW, once caught behind superbly by (wicketkeeper) Prasad down the leg-side, not given."

Langer went on to make 223 - the highest by an Australian against India - to put the home team firmly in command of the match which they won on Tuesday by an innings and 141 to take the series 3-0.

"Langer should have gone at least thrice, the first time before even reaching double figures as poor umpiring held centre stage for the second day running," The Times of India said in a report from Sydney.

Indian commentators had earlier found plenty to write about when the umpire from Zimbabwe Ian Robinson upheld an lbw appeal against Sachin Tendulkar when a Glenn McGrath ball struck him high on the pad and seemed to be going down the legside.

They had also been outraged during the first Test at Adelaide when Tendulkar was given out lbw when a McGrath bouncer hit him on the shoulder as he was ducking and television replays suggested it would have gone over the bails.

Tendulkar has received three debatable decisions in his six innings in the test series.

Former Indian captain Sunil Gavaskar, who is in Australia as a TV commentator, said he could not understand how Robinson could apply different yardsticks in ruling Tendulkar out and letting off Langer.

"The same rules are applied differently for different people," Gavaskar was quoted as saying in the Times of India.

Commentators have also pointed an accusing finger at the International Cricket Council (ICC) match referee, Sri Lanka's Ranjan Madugalle, who imposed a fine and a one-match suspended sentence against Indian medium-pacer Venkatesh Prasad but let off McGrath.

Prasad's crime was performing a jig in front of opener Michael Slater after the batsman was caught out off his bowling in the second Test at Melbourne.

But when McGrath did something similar in front of Tendulkar after Robinson gave him out in the third Test, Madugalle let the fiery Aussie off with just a warning, commentators underlined.

Former Indian off-spinner EAS Prasanna said: "The team management should discuss this with the match referee and ask him why he was not penalising the Australians."

India's cup of woe was filled on Monday when Robinson and Australian umpire Darrel Hair denied a request from the Indian players to sprinkle some sawdust on a wet patch behind the wicket to help wicketkeeper MSK Prasad.

"Does this all sound like a whine from the media belonging to the country that is losing the Test series badly?" Rediff's Panicker asked.

"No more, I would think, than the endless Australian complaints of smog in Delhi (after losing the one-off Test in 1996), bed tracks, and worse umpiring, sounded like whining when they were in India in 1998 and lost the series there."