In any battle on the sports field the umpire plays a crucial role. A good umpire can add to the value of the contest while an inefficient umpire can ruin the game. But the role of the umpire is rarely given the importance that it deserves. The umpire’s job is a thankless one. If he makes a good decision when under pressure, it is taken for granted. If he makes a bad decision, then everyone criticises him. By all means it is a difficult task. Yet there are people who do this job day in and day out with diligence and dedication.
There have been high profile umpires in international cricket like Dickie Bird, David Shepherd, Simon Taufel, Steve Bucknor and others who have caught the public’s attention because of television. But before the advent of television coverage, there were others who were very adept and accurate in their judgements. In Hyderabad one such person was Parthasarathy Rajagopal who is till today, one of the most experienced umpires in Hyderabad.
In a long career stretching from 1978 to 2002, he has umpired in 104 matches of which 85 were first class including Ranji trophy league, super league and knockouts, Duleep trophy, Deodhar trophy, Wills trophy and matches against visiting teams from New Zealand, Australia, Kenya vs. Bangladesh, West Indies (A), Pakistan vs. Sri Lanka (reserve umpire), New Zealand vs. Karnataka, India vs. New Zealand (reserve ), India vs. South Africa Test (reserve), Vizzy trophy, Vijay Merchant trophy and Cooch Behar trophy.
Over the decades he has seen the best and the worst side of the game from close range and has many interesting incidents locked up in his memory. Speaking to siasat.com he recalled an extraordinary instance of favoritism in the corridors of power in the BCCI. In fact the case was almost ridiculous in its absurdity and showed how cricket’s functioning used to be grossly mismanaged.
“There was a time when the BCCI kept changing the retirement age of the umpires. There was one international umpire who was nearing the retirement age of 55. But he was an airline employee and he used to facilitate various travel arrangements for the BCCI office bearers and their families including green channel passage on their foreign trips. So to keep him in the BCCI’s hands, the august body raised the retirement age to 57 and later to 60. Finally on the day he retired, the BCCI reduced the retirement age back to 55. This hurt my umpiring career badly. I had just a few months in hand when they did this,” lamented Parthasarathy.
But he has many good memories too. He has umpired in matches where some legends of the game had played. One such person was the Little Master Sunil Gavaskar.
“I really admired Gavaskar’s stamina, concentration and technique. For hours together he would get right behind the line of every ball and play the delivery on its merit. His technique was unmatchable. To play like that for an innings which could last for two days was a remarkable feat. Then there was Dilip Vengsarkar. His elegant strokepay was marvelous. On another occasion I was an umpire in a match between India (A) and West Indies (A). Chris Gayle was in that visiting team. He was a junior player then but his talent was very obvious. He was destined for big achievements. So I have seen many things from my position as umpire,” said Parthasarathy.
“There were some batters also threw tantrums and refused to accept the umpire’s judgement. There was one occasion when I gave an LBW decision against Milind Gunjal of the Maharashtra team. He was then batting at 90s. But I was one hundred percent sure that he was leg before and I had no hesitation in giving him out. He threw tantrum on the field. Then on other occasions if I ruled a no ball, the bowler would ask me, sometimes politely sometimes rudely, if he had really stepped across the line. In the course of our duties as umpires we have to put up with everything and do our job. I have never given in to any pressure or overawed by any famous name. I always made the decision which I felt was right,” Parthasarathy said.
But his wealth of experience and hard work was not given adequate recognition by the BCCI. “Unfortunately I was not given even one ODI match. There was an umpire who was my junior who was awarded one ODI match and because of that, today he draws a pension of Rs.30,000 from the BCCI. In our days we used to get an allowance of just Rs.50 per day to officiate in a match. So whatever we did was because of our dedication and passion for the game,” said Parthasarathy.
“Cricket nowadays is vastly different from what it was during my time. The IPL has changed the face of the game. There are young players who are making tons of money and therefore they can look at cricket as a lucrative profession. That was not the case earlier. Many promising players dropped out of cricket because they needed to build careers elsewhere. I had a long and fruitful innings as an umpire. There have been highs and lows. But I am glad that under every situation, I gave my best effort. That is all an umpire can do. If an umpire does his work well the game will prosper. Umpires must remember that their role is very important and they should not be swayed by the lure of money or by pressure from top,” concluded Mr Parthasarathy.
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