The India-England third Test has evolved into a simmering battle between Indian players and one man in the middle, umpire Paul Reiffel.
Day 4 was where the tension spilled over. Mohammed Siraj rapped Joe Root on the pads. It looked plumb. Two stumps were visible behind the batter’s leg, the ball hit in line, and Siraj erupted in celebration. But Reiffel was unmoved. India reviewed the decision. The ball-tracking system showed the delivery clipping leg stump making the decision in favour of the umpire's call.
The lifeline allowed Root to carry on, and Siraj could only glare back at Reiffel.
Former England batter Jonathan Trott said on air,
“You thought it was crashing into the inside of the stump. England survived again. India animated.”
Legendary Indian spinner Anil Kumble, now in the commentary box, didn’t mince words: “It seems Paul Reiffel has decided that it is not going to be out. Anything close, not out.”
Just hours later, in India’s tense second innings chase of 193, came a moment that sent Indian fans into a tailspin.
Shubman Gill was given out caught behind off a Brydon Carse delivery that hadn’t touched his bat. The Indian captain called for a review. The ultra-edge was clean — no spike, no nick. The bat and ball never met. And yet, Reiffel had raised his finger.
Ravichandran Ashwin, speaking later on his YouTube channel ‘Ash ki Baat’, was biting in his critique. “Whenever India bowls, he always feels it’s not out. Whenever India bats, he always feels it’s out,” he said.
Ashwin added that even his father had remarked, “Whenever Paul Reiffel comes, India won’t win.” The spinner made it clear this wasn’t an isolated incident. “I own a sedan, which I can park through the gap between bat and ball,” he said of the Gill dismissal. “It’s clear it was not out.”
Former captain Sunil Gavaskar, watching the Root LBW incident, questioned the reliability of ball-tracking itself. “You’re saying it was going to kiss the leg stump? There’s no way. It was knocking the leg stump off,” he said, his voice brimming with frustration.
Earlier in the match, Reiffel had also turned down another LBW shout against Root where he was struck in line while shuffling across, with two stumps showing at the point of impact. DRS showed the ball barely clipping the leg stump. Again, umpire’s call, and again, India denied.
The frustration was not limited to ex-players or pundits. Social media erupted. Hashtags like #ReiffelOut and #UmpiresCall trended throughout Day 4 and Day 5.
Some compared him to Steve Bucknor, recalling Sydney 2008. Others called him England’s "13th man" on the pitch. There was sarcasm, anger, and a collective eye-roll from Indian fans.
The decisions came at key turning points. India, having bowled England out for 192 in the second innings, needed 193 to win the match and take a crucial 2-1 lead in the five-Test series.
They ended Day 4 at 58/4, and on the final morning, when Rahul, Pant and Sundar fell in quick succession, all eyes turned to Jadeja and the tail. But the anger over umpiring had already tainted the atmosphere. Every marginal call, every half-appeal, every referral—Indian fans were glued to Reiffel’s expressions more than the players’ strokes.
Reiffel’s decisions attracted criticism from even former England players like Trott.
For India, this Test might end as a painful ‘what if’. What if Gill hadn’t been given out? What if Root had been dismissed when Siraj struck? What if the umpire’s call didn’t shield a flawed judgement?
For now, though, Indian fans have one name stuck in their minds. Not Root. Not Anderson. Not even Ben Stokes. Just Paul Reiffel. Or, as he may now be remembered — Steve Bucknor 2.0.