‘Get specialist third umpires’ – Joel Wilson’s DRS call off Yashasvi Jaiswal divides opinion
With TV umpiring in the headlines before the fourth day’s play in the Ranchi Test, another moment of controversy took place as Yashasvi Jaiswal survived what some deemed to be an error from third umpire Joel Wilson.
Resuming play on 40-0 in pursuit of 192, India’s opening pair of Rohit Sharma and Jaiswal once more started serenely getting up to 66-0 after 14 overs.
At this point England captain Ben Stokes introduced Tom Hartley into the attack for the first time in the day. The left-arm spinner made an immediate impact drawing a huge appeal for lbw off his third ball of the day.
The appeal was rejected by the standing umpire but England sent the decision upstairs to the TV umpire. A murmur on Ultra-Edge around the time the ball passed the bat was enough for Wilson to dismiss the review, but several pundits pointed out that the noise picked up on the technology was more likely produced by Jaiswal’s bat brushing his pad rather than the ball.
Jarrod Kimber took to X, formerly Twitter, to advance the case of having specialist TV umpires in light of what he perceived to be a mistake. “Bat hit pad for the second time this match and Joel Wilson hasn’t picked it up and given in as an edge,” he wrote. “Probably wouldn’t have been out anyway. But come on.”
Bat hit pad for the second time this match and Joel Wilson hasn’t picked it up and given in as an edge. Probably wouldn’t have been out anyway. But come on.
GET SPECIALIST 3RD UMPIRES NOW.
— Jarrod Kimber (@ajarrodkimber) February 26, 2024
The decision did not prove too costly for England; Jaiswal put on a further 12 runs before he was caught superbly by James Anderson off the bowling of Joe Root. But in what might still be a close finish, every run lost or gained is vital.
The process around TV umpiring has been in the firing line at times this series with former England captain Michael Vaughan recently suggesting that TV cameras should be inserted into the DRS trucks for the sake of transparency.
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