Where to Draw the line?

There’s this old joke that if Sita, Lord Rama’s wife in the Ramayana, played cricket, then she would never bowl a legal delivery ! Why so?

Because she would always cross the line ( Lakshman Rekha)and it becomes a no-ball!

Well jokes apart, there has arisen a serious question in international cricket -Where to draw the line? This is not only due to the rise of technology, but also due to the evolution of the game itself.

Technology in Cricket

Is technology really a deterrent? How is technology a deterrent? These questions look contradictory but only by answering them, we get a complete picture. Major use of technology in cricket started, with the use of television replays by the third umpire. It was in 1992 that a television replay showed Sachin Tendulkar short of his crease and eventually was run out by Jhonty Rhodes. Since then, replays have been really effective in making crucial turnarounds to the game-play. Now we get to the second question. How is this wrong? Asking for a replay to check for a close run-out or a stumping is okay, but nowadays when the third umpire is being referred to for a close catch or a stumping, the third umpire also mandatorily checks whether the bowler has bowled a no-ball. Just because there is technology available for perusal, is it right to completely overlook the on-field umpires? The fact that the umpire has gone upstairs to check whether it is a dismissal itself means that he is sure that the delivery is legal. So why start all over again and overlook him by checking for a no-ball first, and then for the legality of the dismissal? Also majority of the umpires today go upstairs, even if they have the slightest of doubts about the dismissal, which is unnecessary.

Then comes the DRS. Though majority of the teams have embraced it, India still doesn’t look convinced. The reason being that the DRS isn’t completely foolproof. It may look like the Indians are ignorant, but there is enough logic to support their stance.

Primarily, only two referrals are allowed per team. So even though you’re not out, you have to abide by the wrong decision of the umpire because your team has already used two of the referrals and vice-versa. As rightly questioned by M.S. Dhoni, the Indian captain, why shouldn’t the referrals be unlimited? Then there was this controversy that Hotspot failed to detect faint edges if the bat is coated with Vaseline.

Finally, given below are the criteria for referring a LBW decision (as given in Wikipedia).

When a not-out LBW decision is evaluated, and if the replay demonstrates the ball has made impact more than 2.5 m away from the wickets, various additional criteria apply to account for the uncertainty of the ball's potential direction after pitching. For example, if the ball pitches more than 2.5 m from the wicket and travels less than 40 cm before hitting the batsman, then any not-out decision given by the on-field umpire stands. It has also been decided that if the batsman is more than 3.5 m from the wicket, then not-out decisions will stand. The only picture in which an LBW decision will be reversed in favour of the bowler is if the batsman is 2.5–3.5 m away from the wicket and the ball travels more than 40 cm after pitching before hitting the batsman. In that case, some part of the ball must be hitting the middle stump, and the whole ball must be hitting the stumps below the bails; otherwise, the result is again inconclusive and the call stands. In cases where the original decision is out, the 2.5 m or 40 cm distances do not apply, as in that state Hawk Eye must show the ball to be completely missing the stumps in order for the umpire to undo his decision.

The controversial Ian Bell LBW referral during 2011 World Cup

Simply said, if Hawkeye is also inconclusive, the on-field umpire’s decision stands, which defeats the purpose ultimately!

Evolution of the game

The way the game has been played has never remained the same. Be it the introduction of 50 overs cricket, or the T20 format, cricket has come a long way from where it started. Yes it is highly important for the game to evolve according to it’s current needs, but it should never change so much that it becomes something different altogether.

The batting has undergone a complete changeover. The T20 format has not only introduced shots like switch-hit, AB scoop and paddle sweep which are completely unorthodox, but also morphed this game into something,which is more like baseball. It’s not that innovating is wrong, but innovations shouldn’t completely take the essence of the game away .

The bowling is no exception. Recently, in both the series against South Africa and Australia, we saw Ravichandran Ashwin bowl leg-breaks! Many would see this as a show of variation, but he bowled an entire over of leg-breaks  to Hashim Amla and AB de Villiers, during the fourth test match against South Africa at Delhi. Having tricks up your sleeve is fine,but totally changing your bowling style is quite unasked for. It would only be a matter of time before the batsmen pick it up and hit you all around,or you try too much and end up with the beautiful off-spin gone forever from your skill-set. The modern day bowlers also suffer due to batsman friendly pitches, prepared for the sake of entertainment.

And lastly, we take a look at the way the international matches are scheduled. For an instance, take the case of our own Indian team. They are currently playing 3 T20s against Sri Lanka. This series was preceded by a limited overs tour of Australia(5 ODIs and 3 T20s) and is going to be succeeded by the Asia Cup T20. It doesn't end there. The Asia cup is followed by the T20 World Cup in March and then you have the IPL. It was announced by the ICC that the Asia cup which was previously a 50 over affair, will be played on rotation basis in ODI and T20 format based on respective next world events under the ICC. This means that the 2016 and 2020 events will be played using the T20 format, ahead of the 2016 and 2020 World T20s, and the 2018 and 2022 events will be played in ODI format, ahead of the 2019 and 2023 World Cups respectively. T20 sure is exciting, but numbing the fans with only one format for majority of the year, is unjust.

So it remains to be seen where the line is drawn, and when. The sooner the better. Because, we wouldn’t want either the picture perfect straight drive, or the stunning yorker , to reach the video archives in the future.