Ahmedabad: Virat Kohli and co made a great comeback in the ongoing T20 series as they defeated England by 8 runs in the fourth T20I at the Narendra Modi Stadium in Ahmedabad to level the series 2-2.
But what made the match interesting was the ‘soft signal’. The curious case of ‘soft signal’ once again surfaced in the fourth T20 between India and England after Suryakumar Yadav was given out caught in the deep in debatable situations.
Suryakumar Yadav was out caught by Dawid Malan at fine leg, although number of times replay showed the ball touching the ground. However, third umpire Virender Sharma upheld the on field soft signal of out. Former cricketers questioned how the on field umpire could have seen that happened so far away.
Meanwhile, India skipper Virat Kohli also expressed disappointment over third umpire's call.
"There was an instance during the Test series when I was next to Jinks (Ajinkya Rahane) and he clearly caught the ball but he wasn't sure so we went upstairs. 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 important and it becomes tricky," said Kohli when asked about it and called for something radical to replace the soft signal.
"I don't know why there can't be an 'I don't know' call with the umpires as well. It is similar to umpire's call as well. These are decisions that can change the course of the game, especially in these big games. We were at the receiving end today, and tomorrow it could be some other team. You want these ironed out and keep the game really simple. It isn't ideal in high pressure games and have a lot of clarity on the field," he added.
(With inputs from IANS)
