Time for ICC to act on soft signal business

The soft signal was introduced in the initial days of the third umpire but now with technology improving many of the experts feel that ICC should look into this issue more seriously

Hyderabad: India’s fine win over England in the fourth T20 was overshadowed by two contentious calls and both the times the hosts suffered at the hands of the third umpire.

India skipper Virat Kohli did not hide his disappointment at the post-match interview by saying that Suryakumar Yadav and Washington Sundar were given out caught despite inconclusive replays. Both departed as a result of the standing umpires’ ‘soft signal’ and interestingly each incident occurred deep in the outfield.

“If it’s a half-and-half effort and the fielder is in doubt I don’t think the umpire from square-leg can see that clearly. “Why can’t there be an ‘I don’t know’ call from the umpire? Why does it have to be conclusive? These things sometimes can really change the course of a whole game. Keep the game simple, keep the game linear and have a set of rules which are not grey,’’ said Kohli.

Those two decisions did not go well with the experts and many felt India were cheated on both the occasion because of the mistake of the third umpire and the issue of the `soft signal’ came into the discussion. Is soft signal relevant in the modern day technology which is used in all international matches? The soft signal was introduced in the initial days of the third umpire but now with technology improving many of the experts feel that ICC should look into this issue more seriously.

Former international umpire VK Ramaswamy did not understand the rationality behind the discussion on soft signals. “The on-field umpires come together for consultation and they refer a particular decision to the third umpire when they are in doubt whether the catch was taken cleanly or not. Then how can does a soft signal come into picture? I feel soft signal business has no place in umpiring. The third umpire, based on the footage available, should decide and when in doubt, the decision should go in favour of the batsman,” said Ramaswamy.

Another former international umpire I Shivram too did not favour the soft signal procedure especially when an umpire is referring the decision to third umpire because he is not sure of a fair judgement and has sought the technology help. “It is something which ICC should seriously address before the World Cup,’’ he said.

Shivram also said Indian umpires came out with flying colours in their on-field decisions in the on-going series but somehow came in for criticism as far as the third umpire issue was concerned.

“It is sheer lack of experience. An umpire hardly gets a chance in domestic cricket as third umpire in many of the matches are not telecast with modern technology. Even when there is a third umpire, he has to utilize the service of he static cameras. This is not an excuse but a reality,’’ he said.

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