"They should take away 'umpire's call'" - Ben Stokes after Zak Crawley's close LBW decision on day 4 of IND vs ENG 3rd Test
England captain Ben Stokes has called for umpire's call to be scrapped after a close decision went against Zak Crawley and the tourists on day 4 of the 3rd Test against India in Rajkot. The 32-year-old believes there should be a level playing field and that the decision must be absolute.
With Jasprit Bumrah's delivery hitting Crawley's pads, umpire Kumar Dharmasena raised his finger in the ninth over of England's second innings. The English opener opted for DRS and the ball-tracker showed that it marginally clipped the leg-stump, forcing Crawley to walk back. Following the match, Stokes and McCullum were seen chatting with match referee Jeff Crowe.
Speaking to media after the match, Stokes said he admits umpires' job is quite hard and that the ambiguities need to be removed. The Durham all-rounder stated, as quoted by ESPN Cricinfo:
"We've been on the wrong end of three umpire's calls this game and that is part of DRS. You're either on the right side or the wrong side. Unfortunately, we've been on the wrong side. You just want a level playing field. The umpires have an incredibly hard job as it is, especially in India when the ball is spinning."
"My personal opinion is if the ball is hitting the stumps, it is hitting the stumps. They should take away 'umpire's call' if I'm being perfectly honest. I don't want to get too much into it because it sounds like we are moaning and saying that is why we lost the Test match."
England's No. 3 Ollie Pope also seemed to be dissatisfied with the decision to give him out in the first innings in Rajkot as the ball-tracking showed it was hitting leg-stump despite the ball striking the right-hander above the knee-roll.
"It is not something you pin down to result of the game" - Ben Stokes
Stokes also said that he didn't quite understand the referee's explanation after the match, adding:
"It came back saying the numbers, or whatever it is that is, it was saying that it was hitting the stumps but it was the projection that was wrong. I don't know what that means. Something's gone wrong, so, yeah. I'm not saying and never will say that's the reason why we've lost this game, because 500 is a lot of runs. It is not something you pin down to result of the game. Sometimes when you are on the wrong end of those decisions it hurts but that is part of the game."
England had paid the price for their poor batting performance on the third morning as they collapsed form 224-2 to 319 to concede a 126-run lead. With a steep target of 557 to win in the fourth innings, the tourists were bundled out for 122 and crashed to a 434-run loss.