India laid low by Bucknor-Benson duo

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Sydney, January 6:: A 'blind' Steve Bucknor and an equally erratic Mark Benson again did their bit to ensure that the second cricket Test between India and Australia would be remembered more for its long list of umpiring howlers than cricketing action.

If the opening day set the tone with three dubious decisions, the final day which saw India crashing to a shock 122-run defeat witnessed a number of horrendous decisions which proved costly for the visitors.

The series of blunders in this Test will further strengthen the demand for the use of technology to minimize human error.

Both the umpires knocked the life out of India's second innings resistance with two decisions and the visitors could not recover from the setbacks.

After a top order collapse, Sourav Ganguly (51) and Rahul Dravid (38) had just steadied the rocking boat when both returned to dubious dismissals.

Dravid had padded an Andrew Symonds delivery that brushed his knee-roll before landing on Adam Gilchrist's gloves and Bucknor ruled the batsman caught behind.

Next was the turn of Benson who ruled Ganguly out even though Michael Clarke took a catch that apparently came off the ground.

Benson surprisingly preferred not to consider Bucknor or the third umpire and instead asked Ricky Ponting, who gestured that Ganguly was out.

Much to Ganguly's dismay, Benson raised his finger, a decision that had former India captain Sunil Gavaskar livid.