Most Indian cricketers, including Captain Mahendra Singh Dhoni, have been vocal critics of the Umpire Decision Review System but Gautam Gambhir has backed the innovation, saying that technology can minimise umpiring mistakes.
Published: May 04, 2011, 12:56 PM (IST)
Edited: May 04, 2011, 12:56 PM (IST)
Kolkata Knight Riders skipper Gautam Gambhir is in full support of the UDRS. © AFP
Hyderabad: May 4, 2011
Most Indian cricketers, including Captain Mahendra Singh Dhoni, have been vocal critics of the Umpire Decision Review System but Gautam Gambhir has backed the innovation, saying that technology can minimise umpiring mistakes.
The UDRS, which received mixed response during the World Cup, is not in use in the ongoing Indian Premier League but Kolkata Knight Riders captain Gambhir was of the view that if available, there is no harm in using technology.
“It is good to have UDRS when you don’t get a plumb LBW. In tight games, if you have technology rather use it. I am all for UDRS,” Gambhir said at the post-match press conference after KKR beat Deccan Chargers by 20 runs here last night to zoom to the top of the team standings.
The KKR captain lauded his team-mates for putting up a professional performance against Deccan and hoped to carry on the winning momentum in the remaining matches of the Twenty20 tournament.
“I have always said that momentum is very important. When you have that momentum, you have to keep continuing to play well. It was a good overall performance. The batsmen scored 170 and the bowlers backed it up. I think it was a good professional effort. We have to take one game at a time. The last six games are history now and we have to concentrate on the next game. As a professional cricketer, you have to keep thinking of each and every game as the first game of the tournament,” Gambhir said.
The left-hander also said that he was enjoying his stint as KKR captain. “I always enjoyed my captaincy whether it is for India, whether it is for Delhi or this one. You end up taking responsibility, you end up learning a lot, you feel happy when you win,” Gambhir said.
“I always believed that there were never great captains and there will be no great captain. There are only great teams. No captain can win you the game. It is the team that wins the game. So far, I am enjoying my captaincy.”
Gambhir also brushed aside any bad feeling between him and Deccan all-rounder Daniel Christian after the duo engaged in an altercation during the KKR innings.
“That’s part and parcel of the game. When you are playing professional sports, it keeps happening. That’s history now. If you are playing such competitive cricket, such things are bound to happen. It’s fine, nothing too serious,” he said.
Gambhir, who came at the fall of Eoin Morgan in the sixth over, collided with Christian while going for a single in the last delivery of the ninth over and no sooner it happened the duo engaged in a heated argument.
Both Gambhir and Christian came menacingly close to each other before Deccan skipper Kumar Sangakkara and the on-field umpires — Sudhir Asnani and Rod Tucker — intervened to separate the duo.
© PTI
