COLOMBO: 

Lanka's deadly spin duo Ajantha Mendis and Muttiah Muralitharan  AFP

When MiD DAY asked Sri Lankan skipper Mahela Jayawardene on match eve whether the umpires referral system would be an advantage to his team more considering the unorthodox bowling style of the spinners, he did not agree.

After the victory in the first Test, Jayawardene did not have any hesitation in admitting the fact though.

"Sachin and Rahul's decisions were tough ones for the umpires, especially when you have two bowlers like Murali and Ajantha going at the batsmen on these kind of tracks. It is not easy.

Useful

"They just needed that extra bit of help. I am all for it, not just because most of the referrals went our way, but we managed to rectify the obvious mistakes. The referral system proved useful in this game otherwise four big decisions would have gone against us," said Jayawardene.

Sri Lanka got three of India's main wickets after requesting for the umpires referral system in the second innings.

Virender Sehwag, Sachin Tendulkar and Rahul Dravid were ruled out by the third umpire after the on-field umpire decided against raising his finger.

The Murali-Mendis combination aided by the referral system is a deadly concoction. Even for the best of umpires, it was not easy to pick up all of Murali's variations.

In such cases, it helped a lucky few batsmen get the benefit of doubt on his leg before appeals.

With the referral system in place, all escape routes are sealed.

However, doubts remain about the success of the system. Tendulkar and Dravid were clearly out in the second innings, but Sehwag's footage was not conclusive enough.