Why there can’t be an ‘I don’t know’ call for the umpires? Virat Kohli fumes after Suryakumar Yadav’s dismissal

Suryakumar Yadav made an impact in the fourth Twenty20 International against England at the Narendra Modi stadium in Ahmedabad in more ways than one. After waiting for a long time for an India call-up, Suryakumar’s impact immediately made him an internet sensation. As the game progressed, Suryakumar would be in the news for a huge controversy following his dismissal. The Mumbai batsman had managed to register a fifty but on 57 and in the 14^th over, a big talking point emerged.

Suryakumar ramped a length ball to deep fine leg and Dawid Malan slid forward to take the catch. There was uncertainty whether the catch was taken and the third umpire was called into play. However, before the referral, the soft signal, which is based on the on-field umpires’ intuition, was out. Multiple replays were shown but there was no inconclusive evidence to overturn the decision. The original decision remained out and that drew massive criticism from past India and England players as well as from many on social media.

Furious over Umpire’s Call

After the match, Virat Kohli was furious over the dismissal of Suryakumar. “If it is a half and half effort and the fielder is in doubt, there is no way the umpire from square leg can see it clearly. The soft signal becomes that important and it becomes tricky. I don’t know why there can’t be an ‘I don’t know’ call with the umpires as well. It is similar to the umpire’s call as well. These are decisions that can change the course of the game, especially in these big games. We were on the receiving side today, and tomorrow it could be some other team. You want these ironed out and keep the game really simple and linear. It isn’t ideal in high-pressure games and we want a lot of clarity on the field,” Kohli said.

However, in the post-match press conference, Suryakumar had a more pragmatic view. “About that dismissal, not very disappointed. Few things are not in my control. There are few things which I have in control. These things are outside that and these are not in my hands,” Suryakumar said.

Getting off the mark in style

The audacity with which Suryakumar got off the mark was great. In an almost Nataraj-like shot that would have made Kapil Dev proud, Suryakumar seized on the short ball by Archer and lifted one leg to dispatch it for a big six. The right-hander revealed that he had seen many international games of Archer and he was prepared for the situation.

“I had my plans when I went to bat and it was a great opportunity to bat at No.3. I knew that he would come a bit short at me and I wanted to execute it. There were some butterflies and I was happy that I was batting at No.3. I also wanted to do the same things that I wanted to do till date,” Suryakumar said.