The soft signal rule in cricket has become a topic of discussion in recent time after a couple of close calls went against India in the 4th T20I against England on Thursday. Suryakumar Yadav was adjudged out despite the third umpire lacking any conclusive evidence after England batsman Dawid Malan claimed a catch at the deep. The third umpire stayed with the soft signal, which was out, from the on-field umpires despite checking multiple angles for conclusive evidence.
Captain Virat Kohli was certainly not impressed with the soft-signal rule as he argued why there should not be an “I don’t know” call from the on-field umpires if they are not sure of the decision. Agreeing on the same former India wicketkeeper Deep Dasgupta backed Virat Kohli’s take on the issue but did not suggest ruling out the soft signal rule from cricket.
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DeepDasgupta had said, “Fundamentally, what you are doing is telling the world that the on-field umpire is still the boss. He is the authority figure on the field. I am completely fine with that. But the other important thing, it’s very difficult for an onfield umpire to figure out whether that was out or not out as you mentioned 40, 50, 60 yards from where they are. It’s very difficult. Someone who has taken the catch, Dawid Malan himself wasn’t aware whether he had taken it legally or not.”
He further added, “I think Virat mentioned and a few of us mentioned on-air as well, I think for a situation like this the umpire should have the option of saying ‘you know what I am sorry but it’s not possible for me to figure out whether it was out or not and then pass it on to the third umpire. It shouldn’t be mandatory for umpires in these cases to kind of come up with the soft decision or soft signal.”
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Despite the debatable umpiring calls, India manages to pull off a series leveling win in the 4h T20I and level the 5-match series at 2-2. Suryakumar Yadav hit a quickfire 57 before he was adjudged out as India posted 185 on the board. The hosts restricted the hosts for 177 for 8 as India became the first team to defend a total in the series in Ahmedabad.
