The umpire’s call in a Decision Review System (DRS) has been a bone of contention in the last few years. England captain Ben Stokes reignited the debate, saying it should be done away with after couple of calls went against them. However, with ben Duckett surviving all thanks to the same “Umpire’s call” in IND vs ENG Ranchi Test, former India captain Sunil Gavaskar did not leave the chance to take a dig at Ben Stokes.
“Anyone saving umpire’s call should be removed, look at this now. It would’ve been ‘goodbye Duckett’,” Sunil Gavaskar said on the commentary during IND vs ENG Ranchi Test.
What happened to Ben Duckett?
It was in the first over of Ravindra Jadeja when he seemingly trapped Ben Duckett LBW. With the on-field umpire Kumar Dharmasena not raising his finger despite a loud appeal, Rohit Sharma took the DRS.
In replays, it showed the balling just falling on the edge of the off-side. And to everyone’s surprise, it returned as an Umpire’s call.
The ball tracking too returned as umpire’s call, giving Ben Duckett a reprieve. Had there been no umpire’s call as Ben Stokes suggested, Duckett would have been out.
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What did Ben Stokes say?
It was after the IND vs ENG Rajkot Test when Ben Stokes said ICC should get rid off umpire’s call. Zak Crawley was given out as the on-field call was also out.
“Umpire’s call, personally I think we should just get rid of it. If it’s hitting the stumps, it’s hitting the stumps, then it’s a level playing field,” Ben Stokes told TalkSport after England’s 434-run loss.
