Taufel calls for structural review of India's domestic umpiring programme 

Simon Taufel is worried over the umpiring standards in the country.

Simon Taufel | Getty

Indian cricket needs to restructure its domestic umpiring programme if ever one of them is to feature again in the ICC's Elite Panel of Umpires, said renowned former umpire Simon Taufel, who is at pains to know the current standards in the country with someone like S Ravi removed from the panel earlier this year. 

Ravi, with the experience of 33 Tests, 48 ODIs and 18 T20Is, was only the second Indian to enter the 12-member ICC elite panel of umpires after S Venkataraghavan.

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"It does take 10 years to get to world-class. I remember when we started our programme in India in 2006 and finished in 2016, it took 10 years to get S Ravi into the elite panel," Taufel, adjudged world's No.1 umpire for four consecutive years from 2004-08, told PTI

"So there needs to be a rethink (from the BCCI). I am not sure if there is anything wrong necessarily. They need umpires and Sourav Ganguly (new BCCI boss) perhaps is on the right path when he talks about strengthening domestic cricket and hopefully umpiring is part of that programme."

"It is not just about the umpires themselves, it is about the structure and system," the Australian added. "It is all about creating an environment where the umpires can grow. That means you need to have dedicated resources."

"You need to have an umpires' manager, umpires' coach, umpires' trainer. We also need to create an environment where people feel safe and there is meritocracy."

With the advancement of technology, umpiring is becoming a more scrutinised job than ever. Taufel, however, said: "Not necessarily. It is just the nature of the beast, you got to keep adapting to the changing environments."

"If you look at comments made by Tim Paine (Australia captain) during the recent Ashes series, he spoke about how difficult it is for captains to get the reviews right, they have a greater appreciation for the umpires now. Umpiring is not for everyone. Technology also shows how many good decisions they make."

Besides Taufel's involvement with India, he served as ICC's umpire performance and training manager until October 2015 post announcing retirement three years earlier. 

The 48-year-old thinks the game shall not be rigid with the policy of neutral umpires and have the best of them employed for all cricket. 

"When we have neutral umpires and we don't care where they come from and they make a mistake, we are not talking about where they are coming from, so the game comes first. It is not about whether the umpire is neutral or not."

"It is about whether he is doing a good job or not. It should be merit-based. Why have we got different policies for ODI and Test cricket? Shouldn't we be more aligned between the two formats?" he asked. 

(Inputs from PTI)

 
 

By Kashish Chadha - 27 Nov, 2019

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