Pune: India skipper Virat Kohli criticised Monday the fiercely-debated umpire’s call in the Decision Review System (DRS). Virat Kohli asserted that it is creating a lot of confusion. He said LBW dismissals should be based solely on whether the ball is hitting the stumps, even if marginally.
As per the existing rule, at least 50 per cent of the ball should be hitting at least one of the three stumps for the batsman to be adjudged LBW.
“I played for a long time when there was no DRS. Right. If the umpire made a decision, whether the batsman liked it or not, it stayed like that. Vice-versa the umpire gave it not out and it was out, it stayed like that, whether it was marginal or not. So there should be some clarity regarding LBWs,” said Kohli.
“According to me, umpire’s call right now is creating a lot of confusion. When you get bowled as a batsman, you don’t expect the ball to hit more than 50 per cent into the stumps to consider yourself bowled. So from basic cricket common-sense, I don’t think that there should be any debate on that. If the ball is clipping the stumps, that should be out whether you like it or not, you lose the review,” added the Indian captain.
Kohli was critical of the on-field soft signals following Suryakumar Yadav’s dismissal during the T20 series against England. He said the game has to be kept simple.
“That’s how simple the game has to be if it hits the stumps, or it misses the stumps. It doesn’t matter how much it’s hitting, and those kinds of things, because it’s creating a lot of confusion. And you know one more factor needs to be considered. How the fielding team responds to a dismissal that is claimed, defining soft signals as well.
“You have to question what the spirit of the game is and what those guidelines are. Because if, things like that happened with the Indian cricket team overseas, then you are talking about a totally different conversation of spirit of the game,” Kohli added.
Kohli said the things could come to a head in high-stakes tournaments if controversial umpiring calls end up affecting results.
“…There’s a lot at stake in the future with the big tournaments, and you don’t want some grey area factors in the game. Those leave you with no clarity to be the defining factors of those big tournaments,” the Indian captain gave his opinion on DRS.
Spin great Shane Warne for long has called for a tweak in the umpire’s call. He also has expressed a view similar to Kohli on the subject.