New Delhi: After Joe Root’s dismissal on day three of the fourth Test of the five-match series, ex-England captain Michael Vaughan has opined that TV cameras should be placed on Decision Review System (DRS) operators to provide “transparency” as the technology has been a big talking point in the ongoing series against India.
Root seemed displeased when he was dismissed upon review to India’s off-spinner Ravichandran Ashwin on Sunday. The batter got hit on the pad by Ashwin’s delivery and the umpire was unconvinced with the appeal and gave not out.
But India decided to go upstairs. In the review, UltraEdge made it clear that Root didn’t get his bat on it and Hawk Eye then stated that the ball was pitched inside the line of the stumps and would have hit the leg stump. And the on-field decision overturned and Root was dismissed for 11.
In that same Test, England profited from four ‘umpire’s call’ lbw decisions during India’s first innings.
“I’m not saying anyone is cheating. I’m trying to give an answer for when a decision is made and we all disagree with it. If the person on Hawk-Eye is filmed it puts the noise to bed,” Vaughan said on BBC’s Test match special.
Earlier in the series, skipper Ben Stokes found Zak Crawley’s dismissal in their 432-run defeat in the third Test against India in Rajkot perplexing as the technology suggested the ball was not hitting the stumps, yet the on-field decision stood and the DRS gave it as ‘umpire’s call’.
The English skipper then called for ‘umpire’s call’ regulations within DRS to be scrapped.
“I can understand supporters on both sides being frustrated with the decisions that have been made. It doesn’t look like Hawk-Eye is having a great series. The most important operators of decisions now are in the trucks. We need to have a camera in the truck to give an understanding of how it all comes to that decision.
“All I want is full transparency. If it takes the International Cricket Council employing someone to put in the trucks for integrity, they have to do that as well.
“For the game in general, for people watching, we need to see who is operating, because the person operating the technology is more important than the umpires,” added Vaughan.