Aug 10: The first day of the last Test match at Oval and yet again some miss judgments led to rethink about the purpose of adoption of technology in cricket. Umpires are again under criticism for their poor judgement especially the out decision in case of leg before wicket (lbw).
Though India in the decider Test at Brit Oval has so far gained the upper hand with a good opening stand by Jaffer and Karthik by crossing the 100 mark and later 316/4 but the day ends with the same question whether to employ third empire in case of the leg before wicket (lbw). Umpire Ian Howell gave lbw out decision to Sourav Ganguly which has a big nick with the bat.
Earlier in the second Test at Trent Bridge the ICC awarded best empire Simon Taufel had first given Sachin Tendulkar leg before out when he was on his 90s and then Sourav Ganguly caught behind though the ball clearly missed the bat. However, the same empire again given some bad decision that goes against the English. So what the concern is that inspite of using the avail technology like Hawk-Eye and Snickometer our on field umpires opted to give their own decision, which goes against the playing norms.
What the real point is that though it’s really a tough job for on field umpires to take any decision at one go but then they have the option of third umpire who can suggest them by taking help of the TV replays. Viewers who watch the game on TV get the clear cut idea and any such error-full decision can really spoil their interest in cricket.
Though earlier technology was not that much of developed but now umpires generally consult third umpire in case of stumping, run-outs, close catches, boundaries but not for lbw. International Cricket Council (ICC) should come with a clear idea to instruct umpires about the use of technology in this case.
Again there are also some concerns as Hawkeye according to some senior players can only be used as a guidelines and the final decision should come from the on-field empire. The accuracy of this technology is totally depends on the position of the cameras and a little drift of cameras can create a huge difference.
However, umpires should be allowed to consult the seating empire to at least know if the ball pitched outside the leg stump and also in case of bat-pad connection and then let the main umpire to take their own decision. Hence ICC should take appropriate steps regarding this to make the sport more fare and accurate with better outcome of the game.
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