It was umpire Rudi Keortzen with his dose of slow poison — raising his finger up slowly to make a wrong judgment. The affable wicketkeeper, who was given out caught behind wrongly in the second Test against Australia in Hobart after the ball had brushed his shoulders, admits that a lot has been said about the umpires in Australia this summer after increasing pressure in high-stake matches.

Sangakkara insists that he heard a noise after the ball went past Rohit Sharma and that’s why he appealed, while demanding that cricketers need to have good relations with the umpires for lesser misunderstandings. “If I hear a noise and think the batsman has knicked it, I appeal and wait for the decision. After Hobart, a lot of things had been said about umpiring in the past month.

“We, as players, have to realise that it goes both ways. No one is perfect. The players make mistakes at certain times and we don’t really help the umpires at all. The same goes for the umpires. These guys are the best in the business and if they do make mistakes then you accept and just get on with the game. As long as you have the rapport and confidence in each other, there’ll be fewer misunderstandings,” he said.

His explanation was rational and from the perspective of his Hobart incident. “To me that was the way it went and it wasn’t too hard for me to walk away. I was very disappointed of course, but you know that’s the way it goes. There must have been occasions when certain very close LBW decisions would have gone my way. I didn’t complain then. The way cricket is played these days, there’s a lot more at stake than it used to be. There are certain instances that have to be dealt away from the ground where the real action takes place and if that happens that’s up to the parties involved to look at that particular juncture and debate.”

The Sri Lankan vice-captain felt that the charm of the game is in its human element and it should remain like that amidst the growing demand of introducing more technology in the game. “The whole beauty of cricket is that human element. If you want to use technology, then use it. If the ICC says we play the game as it is, then the sides are happy with it and we move on.

“I think the teams playing this tournament should look to play the game. If they do appeal, then wait for the umpire to make his decision and irrespective of whichever way it goes, we should be humble enough to accept it.”

Sangakkara, however, ducked the issue of India’s protest against Steve Bucknor after the Sydney Test.

“It again boils down to confidence. Those are matters best left to the Indian board and the ICC. If that has been handled and the sides had moved on to the third Test, it means whatever happened was satisfactory to everyone. But at the end of the day, someone is going to be unhappy.

“As long as the game doesn’t suffer and a spectacle is put on show that is satisfying to the players, the match officials and spectators. That is what you look at,” he concluded.

‘I think the teams playing this tournament should look to play the game. If they do appeal, then wait for the umpire to make his decision and irrespective of whichever way it goes, we should be humble enough to accept it’

Sangakkara