(Image source: X.com)
[Saba Sports News] England Test captain Ben Stokes has opined on the existence of umpire’s call in DRS, suggesting that it should be abolished.
Stokes’ comments came in the wake of England’s defeat in the third Test of the ongoing series against India. The visitors were well in the game till Day 2, however, their batting unit collapsed in the morning session of Day 3, losing their final eight wickets for just 95 runs after being 224/2 at one stage.
Yashasvi Jaiswal’s double century took India to 430/4 before captain Rohit Sharma called for the declaration. In what happened to be India’s biggest ever Test win, England crumbled under 40 overs, getting bowled out at a score of 122.
A highlight of England’s second innings was the dismissal of their opener Zak Crawley, who was adjudged LBW by the on-field umpire Kumar Dharmasena. Crawley took a review as the ball seemed to be missing the stumps initially from the naked eye. But umpire’s crawley went in India’s favour, leaving the Englishman infuriated.
Stokes talked about the incident, stating that it’s time to get rid of the umpire’s call.
“We just wanted some clarity around Zak’s DRS when the images came back. The ball is quite clearly missing the stump on the replay. So when it gets given umpire’s call and the ball’s not actually hitting the stumps, we were a bit bemused. We just wanted some clarity from Hawk-Eye. It came back saying the numbers were saying that it was hitting the stumps but it was the projection that was wrong. I don’t know what that means. Something’s gone wrong,” Stokes said as quoted in the post-match presser.
“I think when [the] people in charge of it say something has gone wrong that is enough in itself.
“We’ve been on the wrong end of three umpire’s calls this game and that is part of DRS. You’re either on the right side or the wrong side. Unfortunately we’ve been on the wrong side. I’m not saying and never will say that’s the reason why we’ve lost this game, because 500 is a lot of runs.
“You just want something that is consistent, so when the people that use the system are saying something that has gone wrong, whatever it is, who’s to say it’s not gone wrong at another time that could prove pivotal? Umpire’s call, personally I think we should just get rid of it. If it’s hitting the stumps, it’s hitting the stumps, then it’/’s a level playing field. It’s not me blaming that on what’s happened here, like I didn’t last week. It’s just… what’s going on?”
Stokes further brushed aside the outside noise, asserting that only people in the dressing room matters. He expressed confidence on his team to make a comeback in the remaining two Test matches to win the series.
“Everyone’s got a perception and opinion about things, the people in the dressing room is what matters to us. 1-2 down in the series and a great opportunity for us to come back and win the series. We leave this game behind and we know we have to win the next 2 games to win the series and that’s what we’ll look to do,” Stokes mentioned.
The next Test match of the series will commence on February 23 in Ranchi.