Former Captain of Team Pakistan Blast Umpiring at Cricket World Cup 2023
Former captain of Pakistan cricket team Salman Butt expressed his disappointment at the standard of umpiring in the ongoing Cricket World Cup 2023. During Australia's match against South Africa, the dismissals of Steve Smith and Marcus Stoinis led to a massive controversy, and later, both David Warner and Jonny Bairstow were not happy with the decisions that went against them. Butt believes that the standard of umpiring was not up to par or even close to being "world-class" during the India vs. Pakistan match, with Mohammad Rizwan surviving an LBW appeal thanks to a well-taken review.
Butt said, "The umpiring hasn't been up to the mark in the World Cup—very pathetic decision-making. The likes of David Warner and Jonny Bairstow made marginal decisions. During the India-Pakistan game, Mohammad Rizwan was given out; luckily, he took a review, and the decision was overturned. Then, Babar Azam could have been given out in that match, but he survived. There are no world-class umpiring standards.”