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On-field official Virender Sharma came under the scanner for his horrible umpiring in the ongoing third and final T20I of India's home series against Afghanistan at the M.Chinnaswamy Stadium in Bengaluru on Wednesday, January 17.
His first error came on the second ball of the match. Team India skipper Rohit Sharma hit left-arm pacer Fareed Ahmed's delivery towards fine leg for a four. To the batter's surprise, the umpire signalled it as leg byes, a call that even shocked the commentators.
He then gave Rinku Singh out LBW in the ninth over off Qais Ahmad's bowling. The southpaw challenged the decision by opting for the DRS. He was saved as ultra-edge showed the ball had taken the bat's edge before hitting the pads.
Virender Sharma's poor outing continued as he called Saleem Safi's final ball of the 14th over a fair delivery, which many believe should have been called a no-ball for height.
To make matters worse, Safi's high full toss in the 16th over was given a no-ball, which appeared to be a fair delivery. Several fans took to social media, expressing their disappointment over poor umpiring.
Here are some of the top reactions:
India won the toss and elected to bat first against Afghanistan in the dead rubber contest. The Men in Blue were off to a terrible start, losing four quick wickets inside five overs to be placed at 22/4.
Captain Rohit Sharma saved the day with a sensational knock. He notched up a record-breaking fifth T20I century, remaining unbeaten on 121 in 69 balls. Rinku Singh also impressed many with his batting exploits, scoring 69* off 39 deliveries.
India registered an imposing 212-run total in the third T20I, courtesy of the unbeaten 190-run fifth-wicket stand between Sharma and Rinku. The hosts have already pocketed the three-game series by claiming an unassailable 2-0 lead.
"Arey Viru, thigh pad diya kya pehla ball?" - Rohit Sharma confronts Virender Sharma over leg bye call
Rohit Sharma was visibly unhappy with umpire Virender Sharma signalling leg bye when the ball hit the opener's bat before racing away to the fence for a boundary.
Sharma confronted the umpire over the call, bringing to his attention that the ball had hit his bat. Sharma was caught by the stump mic saying:
"Arey Viru (Virender Sharma), thigh pad diya kya pehla ball? Itna bada bat laga hai yaar. Do zero ho gaya yaar."
Rohit Sharma bagged back-to-back ducks in the first two matches of the series.
