Cricket-fever%20has%20gripped%20India%20as%20our%20team%20is%20touring%20Australia%20these%20days.%20While%20watching%20the%20matches%20on%20television%2C%20my%20mind%20was%20transported%20to%20the%20early%201980%27s%20when%20I%20was%20posted%20as%20Consul%20in%20Karachi.%20I%20witnessed%20two%20tours%20by%20the%20Indian%20team%20during%20my%20stay%20in%20Karachi%20%u2013%20during%201982-83%20and%20in%201984%2C%20respectively.

As%20I%20have%20written%20in%20my%20book%20%27Karachi%20Halwa%27%2C%20the%20whole%20idea%20of%20these%20cricket%20tours%20was%20to%20promote%20friendship%20between%20Indians%20and%20Pakistanis%2C%20but%20it%20is%20debatable%20that%20this%20objective%20was%20being%20actually%20achieved.%20The%20eminent%20Indian%20sports%20writer%20and%20commentator%20K.R.%20Wadhwany%20evaluated%20the%20matter%20quite%20correctly%20in%20his%20book%20Indian%20Cricket%20Controversies%3A

%26nbsp%3B%27It%20is%20a%20total%20misnomer%20that%20the%20series%20between%20India%20and%20Pakistan%20brings%20%28the%29%20players%20and%20peoples%20of%20the%20two%20countries%20together.%20Cricket%20between%20India%20and%20Pakistan%20is%20no%20longer%20a%20sport%20to%20enjoy%20and%20recreate%2C%20but%20it%20is%20a%20war%20game%2C%20which%20promotes%20violence%20and%20accusations%20of%20cheating%20through%20umpires.%27

A%20historical%20perspective%20of%20India-Pakistan%20cricket%20is%20necessary%20here.%20India%20toured%20Pakistan%20in%201952-53%2C%20and%20Pakistan%20paid%20a%20return%20visit%20in%201954-55.%20Pakistan%20again%20visited%20India%20in%201960-61.%20No%20cricket%20tours%20were%20exchanged%20between%201961%20and%201978%20due%20to%20the%20Indo-Pak%20wars%20of%201965%20and%201971%2C%20respectively.%20The%20resumption%20of%20cricketing%20ties%20took%20place%20in%201978%20when%20Bishen%20Singh%20Bedi%20led%20the%20Indian%20team%20to%20Pakistan.%20This%20was%20followed%20by%20a%20return%20visit%20to%20India%20by%20the%20Pakistan%20team%20led%20by%20Asif%20Iqbal%20in%201979-80.%20Both%20the%20series%20were%20won%20by%20the%20home%20teams.%20Thus%2C%20the%20stage%20was%20set%20for%20the%201982-83%20series%20which%20I%20was%20privileged%20to%20watch%20first-hand.

%3Cstrong%3EAlso%20read%3A%3C/strong%3E%20%3Ca%20target%3D%22_blank%22%20rel%3D%22noopener%20noreferrer%22%20href%3D%22https%3A//opoyi.com/india-beat-australia-by-8-wickets-at-melbourne-to-level-series-1-1%22%3EIndia%20beat%20Australia%20by%208%20wickets%20at%20Melbourne%20to%20level%20series%201-1%3C/a%3E

The%20two%20teams%20were%20rather%20evenly%20matched%2C%20but%20what%20tilted%20the%20results%20completely%20in%20favour%20of%20the%20Pakistanis%20was%20the%20biased%20umpiring.%20Atrocious%20umpiring%20decisions%20favouring%20the%20home%20team%20ensured%20that%20the%20cricket%20matches%20were%20reduced%20to%20a%20farce.%20Of%20course%2C%20controversies%20surrounding%20biased%20umpiring%20in%20Pakistan%20have%20marred%20not%20just%20the%20tours%20of%20the%20Indian%20team%20but%20those%20by%20other%20teams%20too.

English%20cricketer%20Ian%20Botham%20reportedly%20said%3A%20%22You%20wouldn%u2019t%20see%20such%20decisions%20in%20village%20cricket%2C%20leave%20alone%20test%20cricket.%22

That%20the%20Pakistan%20umpires%20would%20come%20down%20heavily%20against%20the%20visiting%20Indian%20team%20was%20not%20unexpected%2C%20if%20past%20experience%20was%20to%20be%20a%20guide.%20During%20the%20earlier%20tour%20in%201978%2C%20many%20umpiring%20incidents%20had%20marred%20the%20game%2C%20and%20the%20Indian%20team%20had%20been%20furious%20over%20the%20double%20standards%20of%20Pakistani%20umpiring.%20For%20example%2C%20they%20were%20upset%20that%20Umpire%20Shakoor%20Rana%20had%20warned%20India%u2019s%20Mohinder%20Amarnath%20for%20running%20on%20the%20pitch%20when%20he%20had%20no%20such%20problems%20with%20the%20Pakistani%20bowlers%20doing%20the%20same.

%3Cstrong%3EAlso%20read%3A%3C/strong%3E%20%3Ca%20target%3D%22_blank%22%20rel%3D%22noopener%20noreferrer%22%20href%3D%22https%3A//opoyi.com/2nd-test-ravichandran-ashwin-jasprit-bumrah-shine-as-india-bowl-out-australia-for-195%22%3E2nd%20Test%3A%20Ashwin%2C%20Bumrah%20shine%20as%20India%20bowl%20out%20Australia%20for%20195%3C/a%3E

Even%20more%20telling%20is%20this%20quote%20from%20Shashi%20Tharoor%20and%20Shahrayar%20Khan%u2019s%u2019s%20book%20%27Shadows%20Across%20the%20Playing%20Field%27%3A

%22In%20recalling%20events%20when%20he%20assumed%20Pakistan%u2019s%20captaincy%2C%20Imran%20Khan%20revealed%20his%20shock%20when%20umpires%20appointed%20for%20the%20test%20called%20on%20him%20and%20asked%20him%20for%20special%20instructions%2C%20if%20any%21

Recalling%20his%201982-83%20tour%20of%20Pakistan%2C%20the%20Indian%20cricketer%20Ravi%20Shastri%20said%2C%20%26nbsp%3B%22Imran%20and%20Sarfraz%20would%20make%20the%20ball%20swing%2C%20and%20then%20there%20were%20those%20two%20umpires%20Khizer%20Hayat%20and%20Shakoor%20Rana.%20It%20was%20like%20playing%20a%20four-pronged%20pace%20attack.%22

In%20due%20course%2C%20such%20controversies%20became%20a%20driving%20force%20for%20the%20introduction%20of%20neutral%20umpires%20in%20international%20cricket.%20They%20also%20led%20to%20the%20introduction%20of%20the%20DRS.%20According%20to%20the%20International%20Cricket%20Council%2C%27%20The%20Decision%20Review%20System%28DRS%29%20is%20a%20technology-based%20process%20for%20assisting%20the%20match%20officials%20with%20their%20decision-making.%20On-field%20umpires%20may%20consult%20with%20the%20third%20umpire%20%28an%20Umpire%20Review%29%20and%20players%20may%20request%20that%20the%20third%20umpire%20consider%20a%20decision%20of%20the%20on-field%20umpires%20%28a%20Player%20Review%29%27.

However%2C%20the%20DRS%20also%20needs%20to%20be%20improved%20to%20some%20extent%20as%20became%20evident%20in%20the%20recently%20concluded%20second%20test%20match%20between%20India%20and%20Australia%20at%20the%20MCG.%20The%20Australian%20batsmen%20Joe%20Burns%20and%20Labuschagne%20survived%20LBW%20appeals%20despite%20the%20replays%20showing%20that%20the%20ball%20would%20have%20clipped%20the%20bails.

Disappointed%20with%20the%20%u2018Umpire%u2019s%20Call%u2019%20rule%2C%20former%20India%20cricketer%20Sachin%20Tendulkar%20has%20requested%20the%20ICC%20to%20look%20into%20the%20Decision%20Review%20System%20%u2018thoroughly%u2019.%20Tendulkar%20took%20to%20Twitter%20and%20voiced%20his%20concern.%20Former%20Australia%20spin%20wizard%20Shane%20Warne%20also%20blasted%20the%20umpire%u2019s%20call%20decision.%20%u201CI%20just%20don%u2019t%20understand%20the%20umpire%u2019s%20call.%20If%20the%20ball%20is%20hitting%20the%20wickets%20%28in%20case%20of%20an%20LBW%20appeal%29%2C%20it%20has%20to%20be%20out%2C%u201D%20he%20said%20on%20air.%26nbsp%3B

By%20and%20large%2C%20the%20DRS%20system%20has%20helped%20to%20ensure%20fair%20decisions%20in%20cricket%20matches.%20However%2C%20there%20is%20a%20need%20to%20make%20improvements%2C%20as%20evident%20from%20the%20comments%20of%20Tendulkar%2C%20Warne%20and%20many%20others.%20The%20on-going%20India-Australia%20series%20has%20been%20played%20with%20a%20high%20degree%20of%20professionalism%20and%20sportsmanship%2C%20and%20nothing%20should%20be%20allowed%20to%20come%20in%20the%20way.%20Of%20course%2C%20the%20umpire%27s%20decisions%20must%20always%20be%20respected%2C%20but%20it%20is%20equally%20necessary%20that%20these%20decisions%20must%20be%20correct%20and%20seen%20to%20be%20correct.%20International%20cricket%20has%20come%20a%20long%20way%20since%201982-83%20when%20I%20witnessed%20Pakistani%20umpires%20murder%20the%20%27gentleman%27s%20game%27%20of%20cricket%20in%20cold%20blood%2C%20but%20if%20any%20further%20adjustments%20need%20to%20be%20made%20in%20the%20interests%20of%20the%20game%2C%20then%20the%20ICC%20should%20not%20hesitate%20in%20doing%20so.%26nbsp%3B