Picture Credit: Twitter
The game of cricket has evolved drastically over the years. Not only just the way it is being played but also the use of technology in the game has changed cricket. Now with all sorts of modern technology at disposal, everyone expects little or no mistakes in the game. But technology cannot be trusted always is a fact and it has been proved again and again.
One more incident to prove that mistakes can be made even with all sorts of technology available. What happened in the 1st ODI between Pakistan and West Indies on Wednesday is one prime example. A huge mistake was made by the broadcasters of the game while deciding the fate of a batter.
The batter and bowler involved were West Indies’ Kyle Mayers and Pakistan’s Shaheen Afridi. In the third over of the West Indies innings, Shaheen Afridi appealed for a caught and bowled dismissal while Mayers stood his ground claiming otherwise. The on-field umpire was also not convinced and sought help from the TV umpire.
The third umpire looked at several replays and gave his verdict in the bowler’s favor. Meaning Kyle Mayers had to walk out of the field. There was nothing major till there as the West Indies innings progressed and it ended with the visitors scoring 305/8 in their 50 overs. But there was a massive mistake made that went unnoticed by everyone at the ground. Even the commentators missed it.
A few minutes later, a few social media users came up with a few pictures explaining what went wrong there. In one of the pictures, Shaheen Afridi could be seen bowling from around the wicket with Kyle Mayers also in the frame. Interestingly, this picture was from the replay the third umpire used to check if the ball bowled to Mayers on which he got out was a legal delivery or not.
Another user explained that the delivery on which Afridi dismissed Mayers was bowled from over the wicket rather than around the wicket. The third umpire, however, checked the replay for another delivery and relied on it to adjudge Mayers out.
When going through the highlight of the match, it can be clearly seen that indeed the third umpire relied on a wrong replay to make his decision. It’s still not sure whether the ball bowled to Mayers was a legal one or not.