Dhoni confounded by umpiring call against England

Bangalore: MS Dhoni made a thinly-veiled criticism of the umpiring decision that nearly cost India the World Cup match against England that ended in a tie. 

Ian Bell, batting on 17 on the last ball of the 25th over, was hit in front by Yuvraj Singh. Umpire Billy Bowden turned down the LBW appeal and India asked for a review. Replays showed three things working in favour of the appeal --- there was no no-ball, the ball hit in line, and Hawkeye said the ball was hitting the middle stump. Seeing the replay on the giant screen, Bell started walking back when the umpires decided to stay the not-out decision. 

What apparently saved Bell was the fact that he had stretched out 2.5 metres away from the stumps, implying the ball could have passed over the stumps, even though he was hit on the shin. ICC rules stipulate players to not question umpiring decisions hence Dhoni chose his words carefully to describe his feelings even as he said India had no option but to accept the decision. "It Hawkeye said the ball was hitting the stumps, there was no reason to not give it out, even though Bell was out of his crease," Dhoni said. "There was a match in which I walked down the pitch, was hit on the shin and was given out LBW. So if that can be out, so should be this," Dhoni said. Replying to a question about the adulteration of technology with human intervention, Dhoni said: "The adulteration is why we didn't get the wicket." 

"I WAS RELAXED" 

Dhoni said he was at peace having given Munaf Patel the final over in which England needed 14 to win. Rookie pacer Azmal Shahzad hit a first-ball six to put England back in the game. "Munaf does a good job most of the times. He bowls in the right areas, but Shahzad played a good shot," he said. "I thought the game would be over by the 48th or 49th over the way Andrew Strauss and Ian Bell were batting, so I am happy with the result." England captain Strauss, who made 158, said it was his most satisfying one-day innings. "I wanted to be there till the end but Zaheer Khan made a good comeback," he said. He defended bowlers from both sides. "It was a wicket where any bowling attack would struggle," adding that the outcome was a memorable game of cricket for both sides.