Fans fume and want answers as umpires dish up unforgivable errors

Cricket fans have been left seeing red and have put two umpires in the crosshairs over multiple unforgivable blunders.

The third Test got off to a chaotic start at the Holkar Cricket Stadium in Indore on Wednesday afternoon (AEDT).

India won the toss and elected to bat first only to be all out for 109 runs after only 33.2 overs were bowled.

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The farcical wicket that was dished up caught the home side off guard as the Aussie spinners wreaked havoc by taking a combined 9/74.

But as the wickets continued to tumble, fans couldn’t help but fume at the level of umpiring being displayed out in the middle.

Things kicked off in the opening over of the day when Mitchell Starc caught the edge of Rohit Sharma’s bat with his first ball.

Umpire Nitin Menon kept his finger by his side and the Aussies opted not to send it upstairs, only for Ultra Edge to confirm it had indeed clipped the willow.

Just three balls later and Starc hit the back pad of Sharma as the Aussies went up, Menon again stood like a statue. Once again the Aussies didn’t send it upstairs as replays rolled to show it would have hit the stumps.

Things only got worse later in the innings when Menon once again refused to budge as Nathan Lyon thundered one into the pads of Srikar Bharat.

The Aussies didn’t hesitate this time around as they sent it up for review with DRS showing the ball slamming into leg stump.

Just saying, but Nitin Menon could put on an injury here and get Kettleborough out onto the ground. #INDvAUS

— Scott Pryde (@sk_pryde) March 1, 2023

WHAT IS HAPPENING WITH NITIN MENON!

HE is getting almost every decision wrong. #INDvsAUS#INDvAUS

— Prakhar Sachdeo (@simplyparu) March 1, 2023

Things didn’t get any better at the other end with Joel Wilson producing an absolute howler as Australia’s first innings got underway.

Ravindra Jadeja slammed a delivery into the pads of Travis Head that had every Indian player around the bat jumping up and down shouting for LBW.

Wilson wasn’t having any of it as he kept his arms by his side. Sharma sent it upstairs with replays showing three red lights and the ball thundering into the stumps.

Triple M’s Rudi Edsall wrote: “How was that not given out on field?? That’s a diabolical decision.”

Sports reporter Bernie Coen wrote: “Gotta be some serious questions about some of this umpiring! That Head dismissal looked plum normal speed.”

CODE Sports’ Lachlan McKirdy wrote: “I appreciate the effort to make up for Headingley Joel, but that was plumb.”

Broadcaster Quentin Hull wrote: “Umpire Wilson …”.

Not sure what Joel was looking at.

It’s not the first time Wilson has come under fire in the cauldron of Test cricket after getting under the skin of fans during the 2019 Ashes series.

Wilson raised the finger on two occasions against England star Joe Root, giving him out LBW only for almost instant reviews to overturn the decisions.

Throughout the Ashes series Wilson continually served up some horror decisions, racking up a staggering eight blunders that were ultimately overturned.

That mark saw him equal the record for most umpiring decisions overturned, joining India’s Sundaram Ravi and Kumar Dharmasena of Sri Lanka.