By Vinay Anand
A lot has been said about the Umpire Decision Review System (UDRS), and most of it has not been good.
Published: Feb 27, 2011, 09:47 PM (IST)
Edited: Feb 27, 2011, 09:47 PM (IST)
Ian Bellâs review is sure to set tongues wagging
By Vinay Anand
Mumbai: Feb 27, 2011
A lot has been said about the Umpire Decision Review System (UDRS), and most of it has not been good.
Every time the UDRS is implemented, it seems to throw up something different. Today was no exception. At the halfway stage when England seemed to be inching closer, Yuvraj Singh trapped Ian Bell in front of the stumps. Bell played a premeditated paddle sweep as he missed a straighter one.
Billy Bowden, the umpire at the bowler’s end, turned Yuvraj’s confident appeal down. Captain Mahendra Singh Dhoni was skeptical but decided to go in for the review. The giant screen beamed the referral; Bell was trapped right in front of the stumps, the impact in line and going on to hit the stumps.
The Bengaluru crowd erupted in joy even before the decision was adjudicated and even Bell did not wait for the decision and started his walk back to the pavilion. He was walking back to the pavilion but was called back. Bowden’s decision had stayed.
The crowd seemed confused. TV commentator Ravi Shastri seemed confused!
However, the rule clearly says that the decision is not out if the distance between the impact and ball hitting the stumps is greater than 2.5 m – which, indeed, was the case. The sole reason for this is that Hawkeye is known to lose its accuracy after 2.5m.
On real time, it looked to have hit him outside the line of the off-stump. What I understand is that if Bell was given out on first go, the decision would have stayed so, in spite of a review. The on-field call prevails.
Clearly, the UDRS is not going to be very popular after this, and not many seem to have understood the functioning of it, making it all the more difficult to implement fair play.
England looks to be cruising along and are favourites from here to pull of a famous win in chase of 339. They are well on their way to rewrite history. It would be the largest successful World Cup chase, if they get to 339.
Pictures © Getty Images
