Ben Stokes minced no words to express his displeasure over the two DRS calls that went against Jonny Bairstow and Zak Crawley, the dismissals coming at a crucial phase of the game on Monday to hurt England.
Bairstow took the review after being adjudged leg before by the on-field umpire when an angled-in delivery from Jasprit Bumrah struck his pads. Replays showed the ball was just clipping the side of the leg-stump, which meant it was 'Umpire’s Call' and so the on-field umpire’s decision stayed with Bairstow having to head back to the pavilion.
Later, Crawley was given not out by the on-field umpire when a delivery from Kuldeep Yadav pitched on the middle-and-leg stump and turned a little to hit the batter’s pad. It looked not out to the naked eye, but India took the DRS and the not-out decision was overturned.
“Technology in the game is obviously there. Everyone has an understanding of the reasons that it can never be 100 per cent, which is why we have the Umpire’s Call. That’s why it’s in place.
“So, when it’s not 100 per cent 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,” the England captain remarked at the news conference.
“But in a game full of ifs, buts and maybes, I am not going to say that is the reason why we haven’t got the result we wanted. I’m just saying that my personal opinion is the technology has gone wrong on this occasion, and I think that’s fair to say,” Stokes said.
England were actually starting to rebuild after losing Ollie Pope and Joe Root quickly, but the dismissals of both the set batters (Bairstow and Crawley) went on to be a big setback for the visitors.
“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’s where I stand on that,” Stokes said.
According to a BCCI umpire, “The ball-tracking at times doesn’t take into account the travelling distance of the ball after it has struck the batter’s pads. The ball will still travel after that point of impact.”
Stokes has no regrets at all with his team’s approach though England had 180 more overs to get 332 runs after resuming Day IV on 67/1. However, he didn’t forget to doff his hat to Bumrah.
“Bumrah’s an absolute champion of a bowler. I love watching very good cricketers go about their business and Jasprit Bumrah’s definitely one of them.”
