Nasser Hussain, Dinesh Karthik fume over 'lack of common sense' as officials declare early stumps: 'Series deserved...'

The Anderson-Tendulkar Trophy between England and India might have gone to the fifth and final day of the series, but everyone knows there was a real chance of the game finishing on Day 4 had the bad light not been called. All results are possible at the Oval with England needing 35 runs while India require four wickets. Chris Woakes, who has an injured shoulder, is willing to put his body on the line and will come out to bat if the hosts require so. Nasser Hussain and Dinesh Karthik slam officials for calling early stumps on Day 4(AP)

Jamie Smith and Jamie Overton are at the crease for England, and the duo will try to help England win the series 3-1. However, the on-field officials, Ahsan Raza, Kumar Dharmasena and the groundsmen are coming under fire for not getting on with it and resuming play on Day 4 itself.

Rain started pelting down once the umpires took the players off for bad light in the final session on Day 4. However, the shower soon disappeared, and there was sunlight. According to the rule book, the play had to resume by 11:12 PM IST. However, umpires called stumps before 11 PM.

Former England captain Nasser Hussain said there could have been more common sense on the part of the umpires as the Test match deserved a box-office finish in front of a sold-out crowd.

"Most importantly for viewers and fans who paid good money, remember Monday is a workday, and this sort of series deserves a finale in front of a big crowd at an iconic cricket ground, the Oval. That would have been some finale on Sunday, you may have just knocked off 35, or you may have seen Chris Woakes walk downstairs in a sling. I'm just wondering if they could have done anything, they had like 42-43 minutes to play with and within the laws and the playing regulations," said Hussain on Sky Sports.

Also Read: Stuart Broad fumes, slams ‘lazy decision’ to call early stumps on Day 4 between India and England

"If the groundsman had said no, we can't get the covers off in that time, the umpires would have to call stumps. I'm just wondering, you do have the option of the extra half hour, don't you? If you feel you can get result at 7.30, if there was 10 to win, the umpires would have given the team the extra half hour, I was just wondering if you could give the extra half hour at 6:42 (11:12 PM IST) and say to the teams, it has to come from the teams," he added.

More common sense required

Hussain further said that the umpires could have given both India and England the option and asked the two teams if they wanted to finish the game on Day 4 itself.

"We're willing to push that back half an hour, are you okay, both teams, are you okay to do that, if one of the teams, if India could say, our bowlers are exhausted, give them a night's sleep, then you say, absolutely fine, or England say, we've had a mad hour there, we want to come back tomorrow, that's fine, but I'm just wondering if you could have a bit of common sense in there, but it's a shame," he said.

Former India wicketkeeper-batter Dinesh Karthik echoed Hussain's sentiments, saying the series deserved a finish in front of a sold-out Oval on Day 4.

"On a day like this, especially with a Test series of this magnitude, it would be nice to have 20,000 people at the ground cheering, whichever team won, I mean, it was either going to go England 3-1, which is what it looked like for a majority of the day, and then suddenly after tea, India's come back and they have some renewed excellence with the ball," said Karthik.

"Little bit of rain, and I agree the rules are the rules, but I kind of like what Nasser said, that half an hour extension that you get meant, even if it meant it needed to start at 6.45, it could well have been 11, 12 hours, it could have gone either way, the crowd would have gotten to see the result, and it's a nice feeling to know that both teams have gone so hard, you give them the option, they don't want to use it, fair enough, everybody's going to come back tomorrow for whatever it's worth, but today, I think a little bit more common sense would have been to ask, I'm not saying it should happen, to ask I think is the fair thing to do," he added.

Harry Brook and Joe Root put on 195 runs for the fourth wicket to put England in the driver's seat in the 374-run chase. However, a late surge by Prasidh Krishna and Mohammed Siraj brought India back into the contest.

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