Picture Credit: Twitter/@cricketcomau
The decision of umpires has become one of the most talked about things in international cricket recently. The 'soft signal' was at the thick of things during the recently concluded India's T20I series against England. The fans were extremely unhappy with the rule, especially when Suryakumar Yadav was controversially deemed out in the 4th T20I in Ahmedbad. Another controversy has now taken place during the second ODI between New Zealand and Bangladesh in Christchurch on Tuesday.
Out or Not Out?
The incident happened on the 5th delivery of the 15th over of first innings, being bowled by Kyle Jamieson. Bangladesh had gone off to a steady start and the score read 53/1. Skipper Tamim Iqbal, who was batting on 34, tried to play a straight drive which went to the bowler. Jamieson, who is 6 feet 8 inches tall, got really down to complete a stunning catch. The on-field umpires referred it to third umpire and gave the 'soft signal' as out.
The replays were not really conclusive enough to come to a final verdict. However, the umpire pulled off a shocker that left Kiwi players in shock. After watching all the replays, the TV umpire said, "I have got the ball on the ground and the player is not fully in control." The TV umpire felt it was conclusive enough to rule it as 'Not Out', much to the dissatisfaction of Jamieson.
Watch the incident here:
The decision has already given rise to another debate on Twitter as fans think it is another howler by TV umpire. Tamim went on to score 78 runs and guided Bangladesh to a competitive total of 271/6. It would be interesting to see if the decision from the third umpire could turn out to be a game-changer or not.