Umpires need to be more watchful of no-ball deliveries: Ricky Ponting

Former Australian skipper Ricky Ponting believes that on-field umpires are not watchful enough of the no-ball deliveries being bowled in a match. He said that this particular trend is "not right" for the game of cricket.

The comment came in the backdrop of an incident that happened during Day 4 of the ongoing first Test between India and Australia at the Adelaide Oval. During Australia's innings, on-field umpire Kumara Dharamsena raised his finger when opener Aaron Finch was dismissed by pacer Ishant Sharma but the replays showed that the bowler had overstepped while delivering the bowl. This resulted in Finch getting a reprieve from the third umpire.

Ponting said that Sharma was about six-inches over the crease and the mistake was so obvious to be noticed by the on-field umpire but the same did not happen.

"I've said this for a lot of years; I honestly don't think the umpires look at the front line anymore. Some of the ones we've seen today . he was 4-6 inches over the line. I don't think the umpires are looking and I certainly don't think they were looking at those ones because they were blatantly obvious ones. And as we know now, they'll only ever look at them if a wicket falls, which as far as I'm concerned is not right," Cricket.com.au quoted Ponting, as saying.

"Part of umpiring is to get the no-ball decisions right as well. I'm not asking for everything to be spot on, but if you're six inches over then surely you can call it," he added.

The former batsman hoped that the Ishant Sharma instance in the first Test will put a spotlight on the issue adding that he wonders why ICC trials are not in place for such violations.

"I'm not sure of the exact reasons why that's (ICC trial) not in place (permanently). We can see it in the commentary box in a manner of seconds so surely the third umpire can see the same images that we can see. I'm interested to know, now that it's been highlighted, just what happens from here," Ponting said.

India are just six wickets away from registering a win in the ongoing Test as Australia have lost four wickets at the score of 104 runs while chasing a target of 323 set by the visitors.