Captain’s verdict: Umpire Bucknor was ‘very poor’ in Sydney

The Indians were upset with Bucknor (57) for turning down what they believed to be clear-cut appeals for leg-before against Justin Langer and Damien Martyn on the final day at Sydney — which, if given, could arguably have changed the course of the match.

Langer survived the shout from Ajit Agarkar while Martyn benefited from Bucknor’s doubt after left-arm spinner Murali Kartik had hit him in front of the stumps.

The Indians are also reportedly upset with Bucknor’s pulling up of wicketkeeper Parthiv Patel with a pointed finger, as one would an errant schoolboy, at the SCG. ‘‘Patel was not wrong in appealing by jumping up and down as his view was obstructed by the batsman’s back’’, a senior Indian cricketer said, adding the umpire was downright rude in his reaction to the 19-year-old.The roots of the strained relations between the two sides Indians are believed to lie in the First Test at Brisbane. In the first innings, Bucknor ruled Sachin Tendulkar out leg before when he had shouldered arms to a rising delivery from Jason Gillespie — a decision that was slammed. ‘‘He was not like this before but now he seems to be riding a thing against us’’, commented the senior cricketer.

The ‘‘needle’’ between the two parties could continue: Bucknor, the world’s most experienced umpire, is to stand in five of India’s eight matches in the league stages of the VB Series and two of the three finals.

It appears Bucknor might have been peeved by chattering between the two teams during the Sydney Test. The Indians found Matthew Hayden and Adam Gilchrist a handful in their verbal attacks and chipped in with own bantering.

Gilchrist, though, came over to the Indian dressing room after the Test ended and spoke in a spirit of ‘‘let bygones be bygones’’, according to another cricketer.

It is a tradition in Australia that the visiting captain and senior players visit the home side’s dressing room at the end of the Test series. Rahul Dravid, opener Aakash Chopra and left-arm spinner Murali Kartik visited the Australian dressing room but Ganguly and Tendulkar did not. —(PTI)