"Technology has gone wrong on this occasion" - Ben Stokes on Zak Crawley's controversial LBW in 2nd India vs England Test
England captain Ben Stokes believes that DRS got the LBW decision against Zak Crawley wrong on Monday. He added that it was his "personal opinion" and didn't consider it the reason behind the visitors' 106-run loss in Vizag.
Crawley was struck in front of the leg stump by a delivery from left-arm wrist-spinner Kuldeep Yadav. The on-field umpire gave it not-out and Rohit Sharma took the review. Replays showed the ball going straighter than what many anticipated in the first look and hitting Crawley in line and his leg-stump more than 50 percent.
A debate ensued on social media regarding it, with some feeling that at least one of the 'impact' and 'hitting' should have been 'umpire's call'.
“Technology in the game is obviously there," Stokes said after the match. "Everyone has an understanding of the reasons it can never be 100% which is why we have the umpire’s call. That’s why it’s in place. When it’s not 100% as everyone says, I don’t think it’s unfair for someone to say ‘I think the technology has got it wrong on this occasion’."
“And that is my personal opinion. I will say that. But in a game full of ifs, buts and maybes, I am not going to say that the reason why we haven’t got the result we wanted. I’m just saying my personal opinion is that the technology has gone wrong on this occasion, and I think that’s fair to say." he continued.
“You can’t really do much with things that have been and gone. A decision has been made, and you can’t really overturn a decision that has been made. That is where I stand on that,” Stokes added.
Crawley was the highest scorer of the innings as England tried to be ultra-aggressive in their chase of 399. After he got out, India rode the wave of momentum with Jasprit Bumrah taking out Jonny Bairstow and Ben Fokes before a direct hit from Shreyas Iyer ran Stokes out.
"There’s a bit of a virus going around" - Ben Stokes
The English captain also spoke about how a couple of his players were "not feeling great" in the morning because there was a "virus" going around in his camp.
“A couple woke up this morning not feeling great, and when everyone had the same symptoms you know there is something going around. There’s a bit of a virus going around, it’s not an excuse for the result or anything, because it’s a game full of ifs, buts and maybes," Stokes said.
“Something that is not ideal. You obviously want everyone to be 100% and feeling great. But proud that the guys who were feeling under the weather didn’t shy away from anything they needed to do and gave it their best,” he added.
India leveled the five-match series 1-1, with the third Test set to be played in Rajkot from February 15.