Irked by the third umpire’s dismissal verdict for opener Rohit Sharma during India’s World Cup match against West Indies in Manchester on Thursday, a fan edited umpire Michael Gough’s Wikipedia page.
“In 2019, he was chosen to be the third umpire for India vs. West Indies match. He is under fire for choosing to overturn the on-field umpiring decision of “not out” for Rohit Sharma without considering a replay of the ball and without conclusive evidence. It is of suspicion that he is biased for his host team, England, to reach the semi-finals as England had back-to-back humiliating defeats by Sri Lanka and Australia,” the fan wrote on Gough’s original Wikipedia page.
The changes made were later deleted and the page was restored to its original form.
On Thursday during the Indian innings at the Old Trafford, Virat Kohli’s deputy was looking in good touch (on 18 off 22 balls) when a Kemar Roach delivery pitched on good length and jagged back sharply, kissing what the Windies thought was the inside edge of Sharma’s bat in the sixth over of the game.
The on-field umpire turned down the appeal, but Jason Holder and boys decided to review it. Third umpire Michael Gough overturned the umpire’s decision and Sharma was adjudged to have nicked the ball as he left a gap between bad and pad, with Roach and the Windies celebrating.
The verdict left Sharma flabbergasted as he walked off shaking his head. The snickometer did show movement, but it was clearly a decision that could have gone either way.
However, Rohit’s dismissal did not seem to act as a barrier for the Men in Blue as they won the match convincingly by 125 runs.