Why Kumar Dharmasena Gave the Signal of edge Despite England's Reviews Remaining?

The 5th and the final Test match between India and England started on July 31, at the Kennington Oval, London. On the greenest of the pitches in this series, the English bowlers had a wonderful time in the opening hour. After winning the toss, stand-in captain Ollie Pope decided to bowl first. With overcast weather and pace bowlers running down the ground, the combination is quite deadly. In the absence of Jofra Archer, Chris Woakes started the bowling with Gus Atkinson.

England were successful enough in dismissing the Indian openers cheaply, when India's score was just 38. Before the rain interrupted the match, Sai Sudharsan and Shubman Gill were batting on 25 and 15 runs, respectively. However, a dramatic moment took place which involved the England players, Sai Sudharsan, and the on-field umpire Kumar Dharmasena.

Kumar Dharmasena Edge Signal During England's Huge Appeal

An interesting incident happened in the 13th over when Josh Tongue bowled a terrific in-swinging yorker to the Indian batter Sai Sudharsan. The batter tried to flick it but fell to the ground. Tongue, along with his teammates, got excited and wanted to take the review, but the on-field umpire Kumar Dharmasena denied the appeal immediately.

Dharmasena shook his head and gestured with his fingers that it was an inside edge. Later, it was seen on the big screen that there was a big edge on the bat before the ball hit Sudharsan's pads. It was an excellent decision by Dharmasena, who is quite experienced at this level.

Did Kumar Dharmasena Save a Review for England?

While Dharmasena gave Sudharsan not out, he also signaled about the batter's edge. During the appeal, Dharmasena signaled with his hands that there was an edge, which brought an end to the appeal. However, Dharmasena's gesture raised a question whether he tried to save a review for England through his signals.

Fortunately for England, they didn't burn any reviews. Moreover, if we look at the matter, usually, umpires do give soft signals to the fielding team in such cases to stop them from appealing further. Dharmasena is an experienced umpire and has been in ICC's elite panel for quite some time now. He has officiated in some of the biggest matches over the last decade.

Sai Sudharsan Anchors India

It's not easy for two batters to settle down after watching the openers collapse within a few runs. However, Gill and Sudharsan showed a good level of maturity in the ongoing game. The Indian captain looked well settled in the match but was unfortunately run out by Gus Atkinson in the 28th over. The run out could be totally down to Gill's misjudgement as he misread a quick run there.

India are currently on 85 runs for the loss of three wickets with Sai Sudharsan and Karun Nair at the crease. Nair has been brought into the team to solidify the batting line-up in the absence of Rishabh Pant. Sudharsan and Nair's partnership will be extremely valuable for India with two more sessions to go.

However, the overcast conditions won't be easy to deal with for the Indian batters. England's bowlers have made good use of the conditions on offer after putting India to bat first. England's bowlers have put consistent pressure on the batters with their skills and ability to extract movement. It remains to be seen how India manage to get out this spot as they need a big partnership.