The legendary Sachin Tendulkar on Monday urged the ICC to thoroughly revisit the concept of ‘Umpire’s Call’ in the Decision Review System (DRS) after India ended up on the wrong side of the rule on the third day of the second Test against Australia in Melbourne.
The ‘Umpire’s Call’ primarily comes into the picture if a review has been sought for LBW. In a situation where the umpire has ruled not out, even if the ball is shown to be hitting the stumps on review, the TV umpire has no powers to change the decision.
Lone consolation
The only consolation for the bowling team is that its review remains intact.
“The reason players opt for a review is because they’re unhappy with the decision taken by the on-field umpire. The DRS system needs to be thoroughly looked into by the @ICC, especially for the ‘Umpires Call’,” Tendulkar tweeted.
This was after Australian batsmen Joe Burns and Marnus Labuschagne were lucky to survive LBW appeals despite replays showing that the ball would have gone on to clip the bails.
Later, posting a video on the 100mb app, Tendulkar said, “I am not convinced with the DRS rule at all. Once you have gone upstairs to the third umpire then the on-field umpire’s decision should not come into the picture at all.” Tendulkar said if the ball is hitting in line, it hardly matters whether the trajectory covers the entire wicket or just a bail.
“It doesn’t matter whether the ball is hitting 10% or 15% or 70% because when you get bowled, none of this matters. I understand that the tracking system is not 100% accurate but can you name one umpire who has never made a mistake?” he asked.
