India vs England 4th T20I went India’s way but not before facing two very problematic decisions from the umpires. Suryakumar Yadav was caught in the deep in the 14th over and was adjudged out. The decision went to the third umpire while the on-field umpire gave a ‘soft signal’ that the batsman was out. Although in the replays it was quite visible that the ball had touched the ground when David Malan attempted the catch, the third-umpire couldn’t find any ‘conclusive evidence’ to reverse the decision of the on-field umpire and thus, Suryakumar Yadav was given out caught. Virat Kohli expressed his displeasure about the incident that happened and urged to make the rules simpler so that teams don’t suffer in high-stakes games.

“These are decisions that can change the course of the game, especially in these big games. We were on the receiving side today, and tomorrow it could be some other team,” said Kohli. He suggested that the rules be made simpler by ‘ironing out’ the grey areas. He said: “Keep the game really simple and linear. It isn’t ideal in high pressure games and have a lot of clarity on the field.”

Similarly, Washington Sundar was also given out when he was caught in the deep but the replays revealed that some part of the fielder Rashid might be touching the boundary rope. But, the third umpire couldn’t give that out as there wasn’t any ’conclusive evidence’ to reverse the decision of the on-field umpire who gave a ‘soft-signal’ of out.

On Soft-signal and Umpire’s call

While talking about the soft signal rule, Kohli remembered an instance from the Test series. He said: There was an instance during the Test series when I was next to Jinks (Rahane) and he clearly caught the ball but he wasn’t sure so we went upstairs. If it is a half and half effort and the fielder is in doubt, there is no way the umpire from square leg can see it clearly.

The soft signal becomes that important and it becomes tricky. Where there should be conclusive proof? I don’t know why there can’t be an ‘I don’t know’ call with the umpires as well. It is similar to umpire’s call as well.”