Indian skipper Virat Kohli was livid with the dismissals of Suryakumar Yadav and Washington Sundar in the fourth T20I. Both the players were controversially ruled out by the third umpire after he had no conclusive evidence to overturn the on-field umpire’s soft signal which was out on both occasions. India won the series 3-2 but it opened up a few potent questions in respect to the umpiring and the laws of the game.
Suryakumar Yadav was caught by Dawid Malan and the fielder claimed that he had taken a fair catch. Later though the replays clearly showed that the ball had touched the ground, the third umpire could not turn down the on-field umpire’s decision as the onfield umpire had made the soft-signal of now out. Similar was the case with Sundar’s dismissal who was caught at the third man boundary by Adil Rashid.
Meanwhile, after the game, Indian skipper Virat Kohli questioned the team’s spirit of cricket and said that fielders should own up to improper dismissals.
“One more factor to be considered is how the fielding side responds to a dismissal defines the soft signal. You’ve then got to question spirit of cricket. If things like that happened to Indian team overseas, then you talk about spirit of cricket,” Virat Kohli said in the press conference on the eve of the ODI series in Pune.
Virat Kohli pointed out that even the fielders sometimes aren’t sure about whether they have taken a clean catch or not. He reckons there should be an ‘I don’t know’ call for the on-field umpire as well, and leave everything to the TV umpire.
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Soft Signal Becomes Tricky: Virat Kohli
The soft signal becomes that important and it becomes tricky. I don’t know why there can’t be an ‘I don’t know’ call with the umpires as well. It is similar to the umpire’s call as well” said the Indian skipper.
The two teams now face off in a three-match ODI series in Pune’s Maharashtra Cricket Association Stadium. The first game will be played on Match 23 followed by the last two on March 26 & 28. Both the teams have named the squads for the three-match series. There are some new faces in both sides and a few are expected to be given their debut ODI caps.
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