Daryl Harper, who was the culprit of a couple of howlers in the first test, has hit back at Team India and the Indian media saying that he got 94% of his decisions right.
“I didn’t have my best game of the year but [match] referee Jeff Crowe, who observed every ball, calculated that I had managed to get 94% of all my decisions correct,” Harper said.
“That analysis was confirmed from [ICC] headquarters in Dubai.”
He made a couple of errors in the first test when he refused an lbw decision against Harbhajan Singh in the second innings and didn’t notice the Bishoo’s feet touching the return crease, in the delivery M S Dhoni was dismissed. The decision given for Virat Kohli, however, is still under debate so as to find whether the batsman gloved it to the wicket-keeper.
His rapport with Dhoni during the debated Test, he admitted, was not the best: “We did not share many pleasantries in the match.”
After the first test, the Indian skipper M S Dhoni had made a sly remark on the poor umpiring saying, “If the correct decisions were made, we would have been in the hotel by now.”
Harper was bullish in responding to M S Dhoni by sarcastically saying, “I should never have applied the laws of cricket to Indian players.”
Harper opted out of the third test between India and West Indies following the criticisms against him and by doing so he retired even before what he called as his farewell game.
He also questioned Team India’s on-field behavior.
“West Indies expressed concern over Indian players’ habit of charging at umpires when appealing, which is against the spirit of the game.”
Daryl Harper has officiated in 95 Tests, 174 ODIs and 10 Twenty20 internationals.
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