Indian skipper Virat Kohli has questioned the ‘umpire’s call’ rule after Virat Kohli On Suryakumar’s Wicket lost his wicket to a controversial decision. Suryakumar Yadav looked destructive during his first international innings for India in the fourth T20I against England. However, his exploits came to an end with English player Dawid Malan claimed his catch in the deep.
IND vs ENG: Was it a fair decision from the umpires?
The on-field umpire arguably didn’t have a clear look at Malan’s catch. However, the umpire was asked to give a soft signal before the matter went to the third umpire. Malan’s catch looked unclean as in some footages the ball was seen touching the ground. However, the third umpire stuck to the on-field umpire’s decision and approved Surya’s wicket. This mayhem of a decision created lots of buzz on social media.
Indian fans were fuming because of what seemed to be a bizarre and rushed decision from the umpires. The ‘soft signal’ rule costed the wicket of in-form Suryakumar Yadav, who could have carried on with his exploits against England till the later stage of the innings. India, however, went on to win the game by 8 runs.
Third umpire while making that decision. #INDvENGt20 #suryakumar pic.twitter.com/JJp2NldcI8
— Virender Sehwag (@virendersehwag) March 18, 2021
IND vs ENG: Virat Kohli’s post-match interview
Virat Kohli, in his post-match interview, spoke about the unconventional ‘soft signal rule.
“Look, there was that instance that happened during the Test series where I was next to Jinks [Ajinkya Rahane] when he clearly caught the ball, but then I wasn’t sure and I asked Jinks, he wasn’t sure. And then we went up straightaway. If it’s a half-and-half effort and the fielder’s in doubt, I don’t think the umpire from square leg would see that clearly and, you know, make a conclusive call. So the soft signal becomes that much more important and it’s a tricky one. I don’t know why there cannot be a sort of “I don’t know” call for the umpire as well. Why does it have to be a conclusive one? Because then that [dictates] the whole decision completely. Similar to the argument we have about umpire’s call as well,” Virat Kohli told Star Sports.
“I think these are some things that can really, really change the whole course of the game, especially in a big game. We are on the other side [of the result], but there could be another team bearing the brunt of this. So you want these things ironed out as much as possible, keep this game simple, keep it linear, have one set of rules which are not grey areas that we don’t understand sometimes, and sometimes we do. So it’s not ideal, especially in a high-pressure game that has a lot of things riding on it, a lot at stake. It’s important to have a lot of clarity on the field,” he added.
