Former Pakistani opener Salman Butt on Tuesday gave his opinion on the umpiring decisions during the ongoing ICC World Cup 2023, calling them “pathetic”.
Butt, 39, pointed out how there have been a number of questionable decisions in the mega event, especially mentioning David Warner and Jonny Bairstow's decisions as both the batters were given out on "umpires call" after opting for a review.
"The umpiring hasn't been up to the mark in the World Cup — very pathetic decision-making,” Butt said while talking on his YouTube channel. "The likes of David Warner [against Sri Lanka] and Jonny Bairstow [against Afghanistan] got marginal decisions.”
“During the India-Pakistan game, Mohammad Rizwan was given out; luckily, he took a review, and the decision was overturned. Then, Babar Azam could have been given out in that match, but he survived. There are no world-class umpiring standards,” he added.
During the game against Sri Lanka, which Australia won comfortably, Warner looked visibly frustrated as he was given out LBW by the on-field umpire. However, as the 36-year-old opted for the review, the ball wasn’t completely hitting the stumps but he was still given out on “umpires call”.
Meanwhile, Bairstow also lost his wicket in a similar fashion to Warner. First, he was given LWB out by the on-field umpire and when he opted for the review as he thought that the ball would be missing the stumps, he was given out on “umpires call”.
Meanwhile, during the most anticipated Pakistan-India match, seasoned official Marais Erasmus was questioned by fans for his decisions during the match.