Former England captain Nasser Hussain and ex-India wicketkeeper-batter Dinesh Karthik have lambasted match officials for declaring stumps early on Day 4 of the fifth Test at The Oval.England, seeking to wrap up a 3-1 win, were 339 for 6 when play was abandoned late on Sunday’s fourth day of the fifth and final Test, needing a further 35 runs to reach a target of 374.India, who had appeared down and out at one stage, require four wickets to end the thrilling series level at 2-2.England were faltering at 106 for 3 following the loss of stand-in captain Ollie Pope, but the Yorkshire pair of Brook (111) and Root (105) turned the tide with a fourth-wicket stand of 195. However, Brook’s exit sparked a mini-collapse, with the home side losing three wickets for 36 runs, including Root’s dismissal.When bad light halted play, England were wobbling, with Jamie Smith two not out and Jamie Overton yet to get off the mark.
“Most importantly for viewers and fans who paid good money — remember, Monday is a workday — and this sort of series deserves a finale in front of a big crowd at an iconic cricket ground like The Oval,” Nasser Hussain said on Sky Sports.“That would have been some finale on Sunday. You may have just knocked off 35, or you may have seen Chris Woakes walk downstairs in a sling. I’m just wondering if they could have done anything — they had like 42–43 minutes to play with within the laws and the playing regulations.“If the groundsman had said, ‘No, we can’t get the covers off in that time,’ the umpires would have had to call stumps. But I’m just wondering… you do have the option of the extra half hour, don’t you? If you feel you can get a result at 7:30, if there were 10 runs to win, the umpires would have given the team the extra half hour. I was just wondering if you could give the extra half hour at 6:42 (11:12 PM IST) and say to the teams: ‘We’re willing to push that back half an hour. Are you okay with it?’ If one of the teams — if India said, ‘Our bowlers are exhausted, give them a night’s sleep,’ then you say, absolutely fine. Or if England said, ‘We’ve had a mad hour there, we want to come back tomorrow,’ that’s fine. But I’m just wondering if you could have had a bit of common sense in there. It’s a shame,” he said.Dinesh Karthik also echoed Hussain’s views.
Poll
Should match officials have extended play for an extra half hour on Day 4?
“On a day like this, especially in a Test series of this magnitude, it would be nice to have 20,000 people at the ground cheering — whichever team won. I mean, it was either going to be England 3-1, which it looked like for a majority of the day, and then suddenly after tea, India came back with some renewed excellence with the ball,” said Karthik.“There was a little bit of rain, and I agree the rules are the rules, but I kind of like what Nasser said — that half-hour extension you get. Even if it meant starting again at 6:45, it could have gone for 11 or 12 more overs, it could have gone either way. The crowd would have gotten to see a result. And it’s a nice feeling to know that both teams have gone so hard — you give them the option. If they don’t want to use it, fair enough. Everybody comes back tomorrow for whatever it’s worth. But today, I think a little bit more common sense would have been to ask. I’m not saying it should have happened, but to ask — I think that’s the fair thing to do,” added Karthik.
