Having officiated in 34 one-day internationals,two Test matches and having once being a member of the elite panel of umpires,K Hariharan has been an umpire of reputation. At a local ground on Sunday,umpiring in the final of the recently concluded Goswami Ganesh Dutt Memorial cricket tournament,Hariharan was no different than his usual self though. When Vikrant Yadav,Sonnet Cricket Clubs opening bowler wildly gestured to Pradeep Sangwan to return back to the pavilion after the fast bowler had rattled Sangwans stumps in the second over of the run chase,the umpire intervened sharply. His reaction,he says,was just following the basics of the game which remain constant irrespective of the occasion. A cricketer must display basic manners during the game. Irrelevant gestures such as these will not do. Even if it had been Sachin Tendulkar,I would have intervened. I do not look at the status of a player before making a call, Hariharan told Sportline,reiterating his stance on a cricketers behaviour. While umpires around the world are constantly changing styles to get noticed,Hariharan holds his own with his no-nonsense approach. I think whether it is a bowler,batsman or umpire,we must learn to stick to our basics. Once you do that,everything else falls into place. In the ever-changing cricket scenario,the media plays the critical role of exposing our weaknesses. While the world can now watch our every move,others cover it up with actions and styles. I just prefer to stick to what I know best, the 54-year-old said. While many officials complain about the role that media plays by exposing blatant flaws,Hariharan believes that medias role is important nonetheless. The media teaches us many things. As an umpire,I cannot catch movements behind my peripheral view. I noticed during the ongoing world T20 that the Dutch players were moving backwards while the bowler charged in to bowl. I would have not been able to spot this during the game. The media changes the perspective completely. It is a great tool, he said. Hariharan was pleased to come back to the grassroots and officiate in the final of the GG Dutt Memorial tournament. He believes that calling the shots in a domestic match can cause a much deeper impact than on the international stage. I do not umpire differently in an international game or at the club level,we umpires have a role and we must follow it. In fact,a wrong decision while umpiring in a game like the GG Dutt final can change the course of a players career.
