Umpires, like small children, should be seen and not heard – except when absolutely necessary – and for the most part they manage to achieve it. Sometimes, however, they have a shocker and the first day of the second Australia-India Test was one of those frustrating occasions.

England’s Mark Benson and, to a lesser extent, West Indian Steve Bucknor may have destroyed India’s chances of taking out this Test match with a number of very poor decisions. While there is no suggestion that their actions were deliberate, it is no less disappointing to the bowlers who toiled hard to gain a breakthrough.

Modern umpiring is subjected to more scrutiny than at any time in the history of the game. Every decision is analysed repeatedly, from multiple angles with the benefit of ultra slow motion cameras, and audio, thermal imagery and motion analysis technologies.

'If there’s one batsman in the world who you don’t want to give chances to, it’s got to be Ricky Ponting'

The umpires don’t stand a chance. If there’s a mistake, you can bet that it will be noticed, amplified and repeated ad nauseum. Sadly, sometimes the errors are so blatant that the technology is unnecessary but, conversely, sometimes the technology is unsuitable for the job at hand and it doesn't help anyway. All of these scenarios were played out on Wednesday.

Benson started out with a let-off for Ricky Ponting, turning down a leg-side catch off the bowling of Sourav Ganguly. There was a distinct noise as the ball passed the bat, but there was no deviation and Benson claimed not to have heard anything. If there’s one batsman in the world who you don’t want to give chances to, it’s got to be Ponting.

Benson made up for this error with an even greater howler. He gave Ponting out lbw after a massive inside edge. If you ever wonder why batsmen don’t walk when they’re obviously out, there’s your answer. Sooner or later (probably sooner) they’re going to be given out when they clearly aren’t – it all evens out in the end.