Sanga defends under-fire Rudi
Kumar Sangakkara jumps Rudi Koertzen's defence, saying the players should accept a few wrong decisions and get on with the game.
Sri Lankan wicketkeeper-batsman Kumar Sangakkara has jumped to the defence of under-fire umpire Rudi Koertzen, saying the players should be humble enough to accept a few wrong decisions and get on with the game.
The South African umpire came in for criticism after he wrongly adjudged Indian batsman Rohit Sharma out caught behind in the tri-series match against Sri Lanka in Australia, which was washed out.
Shocked by the decision, Sharma remained at the crease for some time before walking back to the dressing room.
Although TV replays supported Sharma, the dissent cost the young batsman 10 per cent of his match fee as fine.
"If the umpire makes a decision, whichever way it goes, we should be humble enough to accept that and play cricket. If they do make mistakes, you get on with the game," Sangakkara said.
"We as players have to realise it goes both ways, no one's perfect, the players make mistakes at certain times and we don't really help the umpires out," he added.
Sangakkara, who was himself a victim of a Koertzen shocker three months back, appealed for the catch even though bowler Muttiah Muralitharan had not shown much enthusiasm.
Defending the appeal, Sangakkara said, "The only reason I appealed was because I heard a noise and I thought the batsman nicked it." Terming the current lot of umpires as the best in the game, Sangakkara said "... If there's greater confidence between players and officials, we can have less misunderstandings as possible.