TECHNICAL ERROR

If you are a professional cricketer, you should respect the spirit of the game. This rule has been mocked time and again in recent times due to growing controversies on DRS technology in the game. A fortnight ago, England’s Stuart Broad   refused to go despite replay was clearly showing the he nicked a ball. He was deeply criticised by former legends & was even called for a ban.

The latest incident occurred when India’s Virat Kohli lofted the ball to a Zimbabwean fielder. The replay was not clear whether the catch was cleanly taken as there was no proper camera work so the batsman refused to leave despite umpire given him out after all review. Now, the logic is as per cricketing rules, a batsman should wait until umpire gives him out. A batsman can take the advantage if there is technology available. It is true that if there are no DRS available, then umpire’s decision is final after reviewing all details & then you have to obey that as Mr. Gavaskar had said few days ago. The cases of Broad & Kohli are a bit different in terms of judgement. The former refuse to leave despite replay showing he nicked the ball.

But if a batsman is not sure of the catch being taken cleanly, then he should challenge that decision until all review is done properly. There was numerous incidents when batsmen himself left the field without waiting for umpire’s call. Like former Aussie wicket-keeper Adam Gilchrist during 2003 World Cup semis against Sri Lanka or Sachin Tendulkar against West Indies in 2011 World cup. It’s difficult to say, if they were sure of their dismissals but they respected the spirit of the game. Nowadays, when umpiring is in question, should a batsman really trust his decisions with technology being there? In Kohli’s dismissal, one side of the replay was showing that the ball was dropped short before the fielder. I am not saying that a player should challenge umpire’s decision all the time, but when all are watching that one side of the replay, then one shouldn’t blame the batsman for not leaving the field. Here technology is in question. Not the spirit of the game.