Anil Chaudhary defends Kumar Dharmasena after Sri Lanka umpire's howler at the Oval: Exclusive

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India's renowned umpire Anil Chaudhary has stayed beside his fellow umpire Kumar Dharmasena after the latter's howler in the ongoing Test match between India and England on Thursday (July 31).

Sri Lankan umpire Kumar Dharmasena became the center of controversy during the fifth and final Test between India and England at The Oval.

n the 13th over of India's innings, England bowler Josh Tongue delivered an inswinging yorker to Indian batter Sai Sudharsan. Sudharsan lost balance and the ball struck his pad low. England appealed loudly for LBW, but Dharmasena turned down the appeal and shook his head. While doing so, he made a finger gesture signaling that there was an inside edge on the ball before it hit the pad.

This gesture was unusual and sparked strong reactions on social media. Many fans and commentators criticized Dharmasena for giving a hint to the English players that Sudharsan had edged the ball, effectively advising them not to take a DRS review. England chose not to challenge the decision, saving their review. Although replays confirmed that there was indeed a faint inside edge, Dharmasena's mid-appeal signaling was seen as a deviation from protocol because umpires are generally not supposed to offer such clarifications during appeals when DRS is in use.

But Anil Chaudhary has reiterated the fact that it can happen while going with the flow, but also commented that the elite international umpires will have to be extremely careful, especially when DRS is in play.

"It just happens by mistake. No umpire at that level will do it deliberately, hence it just happens by accident. It also sometimes happens with us in domestic matches, as it happens in a flow. But you have to be very careful, especially in the 15-second with the DRS," Chaudhary said exclusively to MyKhel at an event.

When asked about the Indian wicketkeeper who has improved most on his DRS skills, Anil Chaudhary gave credit to Rishabh Pant for huge improvement in his judgement from behind the stumps. But the Indian umpire also conceded that fact that no one comes any close to MS Dhoni when it comes to picking DRS calls.