The much-debated ‘Umpire’s call’ rule in the Decision Review System (DRS) has been backed by the International Cricket Council (ICC), saying that the rule will stay, as the ball-tracking technology is not going to be 100 per cent correct.
According to a report in ESPNcricinfo, the ICC cricket committee, headed by former India captain Anil Kumble, has taken suggestions from other match officials, broadcasters, Hawk-Eye, and the ball-tracking technology supplier, before deciding the fate of the ‘umpire’s call’ concept.
The cricket committee includes some former international players – Andrew Strauss, Rahul Dravid, Mahela Jayawardene, and Shaun Pollock. The committee also features match referee Ranjan Madugalle, umpire Richard Illingworth and Mickey Arthur.
Not so long ago, Indian captain, Virat Kohli, asserted that the rule of ‘umpire’s call’ is creating a lot of confusion. He had urged that responsible people need to look at it in order to eliminate the grey area.
Despite players pointing out the flaws in ‘umpire’s call’, Indian umpire Nitin Menon had cleared his stance over the matter earlier this month. Menon had highlighted why this rule needed to stay, and the general public should understand the whole concept.
“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 said as quoted by ANI.
“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,” Menon had added.
