‘Umpire’s Call’ has been a huge debating point in the cricket world for a long time. Recently Indian national cricket team captain raised question over the same. Despite objections, the ICC cricket committee recommended to stuck with the same. Umpire Nitin Menon had highlighted the reason behind the same.
Why Should It Stay?
As per a report in ESPNcricinfo, the ICC cricket committee’s recommendation to go with the ‘Umpire’s call’ rule in the Decision Review System will be tabled at a virtual meeting scheduled next week. Since the onset of DRS, this has been a debating issue for long. Nitin Menon explained why this needs to be there even amid so much objection.
“See, first of all, Umpire’s Call is regarding decisions which are very close, the decisions which are 50-50, which can go either way, goes with the call of the on-field umpire. It is not a completely perfect decision that has been overturned, so it is a 50-50 decision which can go either way, to the batting side or the fielding side. When we know that technology is not itself 100 per cent correct, so that is when you need the Umpire’s Call,” Menon had told ANI.
Decision Taken After Debate
The committee, headed by former India captain Anil Kumble and counting a set of former international captains — Andrew Strauss, Rahul Dravid, Mahela Jayawardene, Shaun Pollock – as well as match referee Ranjan Madugalle, umpire Richard Illingworth and Mickey Arthur, took suggestions from other match officials, broadcasters, and Hawk-Eye, the ball-tracking technology supplier before taking a call on the same. After some debate, it came to a mutual decision of letting the Umpire’s call stay.
Menon had further explanined,”When we know technology is not 100 per cent correct, so whatever the on-field decision is given, since it is a very marginal call, so we will stick with the decision the on-field umpire has given. This concept needs to be understood by the general public because they are not aware of why Umpire’s Call concept is there in DRS. It is basically because it was a marginal call and 100 per cent technology cannot say whether it was hitting the stumps or not.”
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India skipper Virat Kohli recently said that the Umpire’s Call is creating a lot of confusion at the moment and the lawmakers need to look at it so that it does not leave a grey area when a big tournament is being played.
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