Harper fires broadside at ICC over Dhoni comments

Retired Australian umpire Daryl Harper has accused cricket authorities of being too lenient on India’s player and claimed their captain Mahendra Singh Dhoni had put undue pressure on him in last month’s Jamaica Test, local media reported on Friday.

The 59-year-old, who opted against standing in his scheduled farewell Test between India and West Indies in Dominica following “unfair criticism” of his performance in Jamaica, believes the International Cricket Council (ICC) employed double standards.

“When I need to consider which team is playing and apply the laws differently for different teams, then this game has lost sight of its standards and its values,” Harper was quoted as saying in the Australian newspaper on Friday.

He wondered how Dhoni escaped without punishment despite publicly criticising umpiring decisions in the Sabina Park test which India won by 63 runs.

“I waited for a response or some action from management... and I waited. No response came... no support, no action. This wasn’t the first time that I felt that I had been left out on a limb.

“People don’t always think before they speak. Some spontaneous comments can be harmful to the game and its best interests. I had previously imagined that was the reason for a clause in the ICC Code of Conduct about ‘inappropriate public comment’.”

Harper, who officiated in 95 Tests and 174 One-day Internationals, claimed Dhoni pressured him in Jamaica after he had ordered pacer Praveen Kumar out of attack for running on the pitch.

“The Indian captain had the temerity to say, ‘We’ve had issues with you before, Daryl’,” he revealed.

“I didn’t ask him to elaborate but I’m still puzzled as to what those issues may have been.”

Harper, who was dropped from the elite panel in May, said he was not convinced of ICC’s support.

“After I had informed them of my decision, there was a brief media release announcing that they had ‘every faith’ in me to finish the job, but I hadn’t seen or felt any of this faith, especially in what has turned out to be the final two years of my career,” he added.