England’s Test captain Ben Stokes called for a rule change following the team’s painful defeat at the hands of Team India in the recently concluded third Test match in Rajkot. Indian cricket team etched its name into the record books for recording their biggest-ever win in Test cricket history as they thumped England by an innings and 434 runs. Rightly so, the hosts took a 2-1 lead in the series, with two more games to be played.
Meanwhile, the England skipper, after the team’s humiliating defeat asked for the umpire’s call to be scrapped from DRS. The umpire’s calls are something that has been the major talking point and while one team benefits from it, the other team pays the price. Perhaps, scrapping the umpire’s call is the right thing to do and that’s exactly what Ben Stokes wants the ICC to fix the major loophole that has been existing in the sport.
Ben Stokes unhappy with Zak Crawley’s LBW dismissal
England’s Test captain was particularly not happy with Zak Crawley’s mode of dismissal as he was trapped for a leg before wicket off Jasprit Bumrah’s delivery in the second innings. While the ball was hitting Zak’s pads, the ball was not hitting the stumps upon watching the replay. Zak Crawley had to make his way back to the dressing room because of an umpire’s call. Unfortunately, the ball was not hitting the stumps in the first place.
I guess @nassercricket should make another video explaining DRS to Ben Stokes🧐pic.twitter.com/dE8ZuMpM7l https://t.co/JCH0awlEo2
— Sahil Vashisht (@BhaktRohiratKa) February 18, 2024
“We just wanted some clarity around Zak’s DRS when the images came back. The ball is quite clearly missing the stump on the replay. So when it gets given the umpire’s call and the ball’s not actually hitting the stumps, we were a bit bemused. So we just wanted some clarity from the Hawk-Eye guys. 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,” Stokes told TalkSport.
“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. 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,” the skipper further added.
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Meanwhile, the England players will get back to the drawing room to figure out what went wrong in their approach in the Rajkot Test. They will be looking forward to making a rebound in the fourth Test, which is slated to be played on February 23 (Friday) at JSCA International Stadium Complex, Ranchi.