Top five umpiring controversies that rocked Asia Cup (21st century)

The Asia Cup 2025 is around the corner, and the world gears up to see one of the most epic cricketing rivalries of this year. While most of the chatter has been around the teams and their respective players, there does not seem to be enough spotlight on the umpires. Throughout the history of the Asia Cup, the umpires have been at the epicenter of numerous controversies. 

Right from the inaugural edition, in some way or the other, and much to the ire of the fans, the game would often be plagued by erroneous umpiring decisions that would often become a subject of intense debate the very next day in the morning. Read on as we look back at the top five umpiring controversies that rocked the Asia Cup to its core (21st century). 

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1. Asif Ali deemed “Not Out” despite UltraEdge spike (Asia Cup 2022)

In a crucial Super Four match between India and Pakistan (2022), Asif Ali appeared to edge the ball, which was confirmed by a spike on UltraEdge. The incident occurred during the 18th over of the run chase when Ali attempted to pull the ball on the leg side. Bishnoi, the concerned bowler, thought there was a strong case for a caught behind and convinced his skipper to opt for the review. However, Asif was given a lifeline as the TV umpire ruled the decision in his favor and deemed it "Not Out". India captain Rohit Sharma visibly protested, but the ruling stood, and India ultimately lost the game dramatically on the second last ball of the game. 

2. Pathum Nissanka declared "Out" despite no UltraEdge spike (Asia Cup 2022)

In a group‐stage match between Sri Lanka and Afghanistan (2022), the former was rocked early by the loss of two early wickets inside the first over. Much to their agony, Sri Lankan opener Pathum Nissanka also followed suit in the next over as he was ruled caught behind, despite UltraEdge not recording any spike. The incident occurred off the bowling of Naveen ul Haq when the ball seemed to have shaped away early rather than getting deflected off the outside edge. Nissanka referred the decision upstairs in anticipation of it being overturned. But much to his surprise, the TV umpire Jayaraman Madanagopal upheld the on-field decision and ruled Nissanka out despite no visible spike on the UltraEdge meter. The entire Sri Lankan team was left stunned early in their innings, and as fate would have it, the island nation was blown away for just 106, thus paving the way for a crushing win for Afghanistan. 

3. Dhoni & Karthik adjudged LBW under controversial circumstances (Asia Cup 2018)

This game witnessed a few noticeable umpiring blunders that went against India. During a Super Four clash with Afghanistan (2018), both MS Dhoni and Dinesh Karthik were adjudged LBW out even though replays clearly showed the ball missing the stumps by a considerable margin. The duo were adjudged LBW by the on-field umpire Gregory Brathwaite of West Indies and Anisur Rahaman of Bangladesh. While Dhoni's dismissal seemed to be marginal, Karthik's LBW dismissal frustrated the Indian fans the most as the ball seemed to have missed the leg stump by a good couple of feet. India were set a modest target of 253 but these umpiring lapses ment that the game would end in a dramatic tie. At the post match presentation, Dhoni subtly criticized the errors, quipping, “can’t talk about a few things… don’t want to get fined,” underscoring his frustration.

4. Thisara Perera given out stumped despite replays showing otherwise (Asia Cup 2016)

In a tense 2016 match between India and Sri Lanka, Thisara Perera walked down the track and was given out stumped by on‑field umpires, even though replay angles suggested he had made his ground. It was during the 19th over of the Lankan innings that left everyone bemused. In a bid to outbox the pinch-hitter Perera, Ashwin bowled a wide delivery to get the ball beyond his hitting zone. Perera's plan to come down the track did not pay dividends as he completely missed the line of the ball. However, he made a timely recovery to get back into his crease right after completing the shot.  But Perera, back then, knew in his mind that he was a goner. Surprisingly, the decision wasn’t reviewed, and it stood as given. In the end, India earned a narrow five-wicket victory in the last over of the run chase. 

5. Khurram Manzoor given not out despite an obvious edge (Asia Cup 2016)

In the same edition of the 2016 Asia Cup, another umpiring controversy came to light. Pakistan's Khurram Manzoor survived a close call against India. He appeared to nick the ball off Ashish Nehra's bowling, but the umpire didn’t give him out, and no review was pursued. Even MS Dhoni confronted the umpire, yet the decision remained unchanged. The Indian captain had lost his cool by then, but the umpiring blunder did not hurt India's chances of emerging victorious in that game. A few balls later, Manzoor was run out by Virat Kohli. Wickets continued to tumble and Pakistan were bowled out for a shambolic 85. India, in reply, made a woeful start to their run chase as Mohammed Amir went rampant with the ball, reducing India to 8-3 inside the third over. But Kohli's laboured 49 (51) on a difficult batting track earned him a lot of praise as India were able to comfortably get over the line by five wickets with 27 balls to spare.