India vs England | Umpire Paul Reiffel forced off the field after getting hit by a wayward throw

12/08/2016

Umpire Paul Reiffel had to go off the field to receive some treatment after being struck by a Bhuvneshwar Kumar throw at the back of his head during the fourth Test match in Mumbai. Third umpire Marais Erasmus had to take over from the injured Aussie as the latter left the field of play.

The incident took place in the 49th over when England were in a comfortable position despite the loss of Alistair Cook and Joe Root. Keaton Jennings flicked a ball to square-leg to take his individual score to 89 on his Test debut. What should have been a regulation single turned out to be anything but as Bhuvneshwar’s wayward throw caught Reiffel on the back of the head.

The incident did not look like a dangerous one on replay, but one could see that it had clearly dazed up Reiffel. The umpire required some treatment on the field, before being helped off as it became evident that he was too dazed to umpire at that point of time.

Third umpire Marais Erasmus eventually replaced Reiffel to take over the on-field duties. Bhuvneshwar looked worried after the incident but there could be no blame attached to the Indian bowler.

At the end of the 60th over England had managed 195 runs for the loss to two wickets with debutant Jennings playing at 103.