'It's a Shame' Broad, Nasser Hussain Thrash 'Lazy' Umpires for Early Stumps on Day 4

ENG vs IND: The fourth day of the fifth and the final Test match between India and England appeared to be the last day of an enthralling series. It would have been a grandstand finish in front of a packed stadium, with over 20,000 fans in attendance at The Oval, London.

The match officials, however, decided to call early stumps, thinking it would be wise for players to come back on the fifth day, with hosts needing 35 runs to win the match and the visitors looking for four wickets to level the series.

Umpires Call for Early Stumps

© X/ICC

According to the official regulations, 11:12 PM IST was the maximum cut-off time for players to arrive on the field after the rain delay. Instead of waiting for the cut-off time, match officials Ahsan Raza and Kumar Dharmasena, after consulting with the ground staff, called stumps at 11 PM IST, 12 minutes before the cut-off time as stated in the official rulebook.

What made the umpire’s decision even more questionable was that as soon as they called stumps, the Sun shone in its full glory.

England Legends Blast Umpires

Furious with the decision, former England fast bowler, Stuart Broad, didn’t hold back, lashing out at the two match officials for depriving the fans of a grand finish on Sunday.

Still 20 mins away from possible start time, everyone has their sunglasses on at the train station. Felt the supporters deserved to see a finish to that Test Match today. Felt a lazy decision to call it off at 6pm in my opinion. I wonder who makes it?

— Stuart Broad (@StuartBroad8) August 3, 2025

“Still 20 mins away from possible start time, everyone has their sunglasses on at the train station. Felt the supporters deserved to see a finish to that Test Match today. Felt a lazy decision to call it off at 6 pm, in my opinion. I wonder who makes it?” Broad wrote on X (formerly Twitter).

More than players, former England captain Nasser Hussain was more agitated with the fact that the supporters, who had spent a good amount of money on tickets, didn’t get to see a thrilling finish.

Nasser Hussain Calls Umpires' Decision ‘Shame’

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“Most importantly for viewers and fans who paid good money, remember Monday is a workday, and this sort of series deserves a finale in front of a big crowd at an iconic cricket ground, the Oval,” Hussain said on Sky Sports.

“That would have been some finale on Sunday, you may have just knocked off 35, or you may have seen Chris Woakes walk downstairs in a sling. I'm just wondering if they could have done anything, they had like 42-43 minutes to play with and within the laws and the playing regulations.

Hussain’s Wise Suggestion

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The 57-year-old suggested that the right way to go about it was to ask the groundsmen and ask both the captains whether they wanted to take the field. If the players agreed to take the field, the umpires could have exercised their right to extend the play by half an hour.

“If the groundsman had said no, we can't get the covers off in that time, the umpires would have to call stumps. I'm just wondering, you do have the option of the extra half hour, don't you? If you feel you can get result at 7.30, if there was 10 to win, the umpires would have given the team the extra half hour, I was just wondering if you could give the extra half hour at 6:42 (11:12 PM IST) and say to the teams, it has to come from the teams,” he suggested.

© X/ICC

“We're willing to push that back half an hour, are you okay, both teams, are you okay to do that, if one of the teams, if India could say, our bowlers are exhausted, give them a night's sleep, then you say, absolutely fine, or England say, we've had a mad hour there, we want to come back tomorrow, that's fine, but I'm just wondering if you could have a bit of common sense in there, but it's a shame,” he concluded.

Whether the umpires consulted with the players isn’t known. One thing it has done is ensure that every single Test match of this series went to the fifth and final day – making it one of the most iconic series of recent times.