Former India batter Robin Uthappa slammed match officials after nearly three hours of delay and six inspections due to excessive fog in the Lucknow T20I between India and South Africa on Wednesday before the match was inevitably called off due to the hazardous evening conditions.
After the toss was deferred from 6:30 pm due to low visibility, the match officialls periodically carried out six inspections at every 30-minute intervals to assess te conditions before the final check at 9:30 pm confirmed the abandoned game, a first due to excessive fog for an international game in India.
Uthappa, on commentary duties, was plainly vocal about the decision from the umpires to delay the toss as it was quite evident that the thick haze cover was unlikely to get any better for the players to spot the white ball under the beaming flood lights.
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“I’m actually not even listening to you because I’m so befuddled by the umpire’s decision right now. How do they think it’s going to get better as the night wears on? It’s not going to get better, it’s only going to get worse. It’s counterintuitive. What are they actually thinking, and what do they think will happen in half an hour that hasn’t happened over the last hour and a half? It’s quite confusing that they’ve still decided to give it half an hour more,” Uthappa said on JioHotstar.
It was the first time a night T20I was scheduled at the Ekana Stadium in December. India all-rounder Hardik Pandya was seen in the middle wearing a mask.
As the evening wore on, several sections of the crowd moved out. A few miffed fans under one of the two cow-corner giant screens made their displeasure known, throwing paper/plastic objects over the railings onto the field.
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‘Don’t know what they’re looking at’
Joining Uthappa on the comms, South Africa pace great Dale Steyn also expressed his confusion over what exactly the umpires were assessing during each inspection when the fog cover was only growing thicker as the evening unravelled.
“I was going to say I’d love to get one of the umpires. Sometimes they say there’s another inspection at 8:30, but I don’t know all the rules they’re looking at. As a player, you just play the game. It would be informative to know what they’re assessing and thinking. If they walk past again, we should grab them and ask for clarity. As a former player, I feel we could play in this, but obviously there’s something in the rules that I’m not fully aware of,” Steyn said.
“I’ve played first-class games in far worse conditions, with a lot more fog. This is way better than that. I don’t see it getting better,” Uthappa added.