ICC's UDRS comes under scanner once again

MOHALI: The ICC on Friday faced an embarrassing situation when the Umpire Decision Review System yet again came under the scanner after well-set Ireland batsman Gary Wilson fell victim to the system at a crucial stage of a Group B World Cup match against West Indies.

Chasing 276 for victory, Ireland were in with a great chance, placed at 199 for five in 41.3 overs with Wilson batting on 61 off 62 deliveries and giving him company was all-rounder Alex Cusack.

But the complexion of the match changed completely when Wilson was given out LBW to Sammy by an erring Sri Lankan umpire Ashoka De Silva, who has messed up his verdicts in this tournament a couple of times.

De Silva adjudged Wilson lbw to Sammy with a ball that struck the batsman outside the off and was moving in with the seam.

Not convinced with the decision, Wilson immediately went for the review and TV replays later showed that the batsman was struck on the pad outside the stumps while he was attempting a late cut and the ball was just about kissing the off stump.

The third umpire in-charge Bruce Oxenford of Australia too was not convinced that Wilson fell at the wrong side of the decision and left the verdict on on-field official De Silva.

Even though, De Silva did not change his mind, an agitated Wilson refused to leave the ground which forced the Sri Lankan umpire to again go back upstairs. But in the end, after a review of the review of the original call, the Irish right-hander was given out, which clearly brought UDRS again under the scanner.

Wilson lbw dismissal did not go down well with Ireland skipper William Porterfiled, who said that the verdict eventually cost them the game.

"It cost us the match. The technology is supposed to eradicate mistakes, but in this case it didn't," a visibly upset Porterfield said in the post-match press conference.

"It was a pretty crucial decision. In my opinion they got it wrong. According to me, the UDRS was working so far but if you get decision like this I don't know," he added.

The controversial UDRS came under flak from the onset of the World Cup and as the tournament progressed the situation only became worse for the ICC.

Ironically, UDRS was at the receiving end on numerous occasions in this tournament, including India's matches against England and Ireland.

During the tied India-England Group B match at the same venue on February 27, on-field umpire Billy Bowden stuck to his decision of ruling England's Ian Bell not out for a leg before appeal against him by the Indian team when he was rapped on the pad by Yuvraj.

India called for a review of the decision and technology showed that the ball would have gone on to hit the stumps but for the pad coming in the way. But the point of impact was more than 2.5m from the stumps and the batsman stayed on as Bowden stuck to his original call.

Even batsman Bell felt he was out and started walking back to the dressing room before he was asked to come back to the crease and continue his innings, and the incident created a major furore with India captain Mahendra Singh Dhoni going to the extent of criticising DRS and the International Cricket Council (ICC) for introducing it in the mega-event.

In the India-Ireland match also Irish batsman Alex Cusack was given out out LBW to Yuvraj Singh even though the point of impact of the ball on the pad was more than 2.5 metres from stumps.

Australian umpire Rod Tucker initially ruled Cusack not out off Yuvraj in the 44th over but after a review appeal by India, he reversed his decision and gave the batsman out though TV replays showed the point of impact at the pad would have been more than 2.5 meters from the stumps.

Cusack, the eighth Ireland batsman to be out and Yuvraj's fifth victim in the match, was well down the track, his backfoot nearly a foot outside the crease and his front foot also well down the track though HawkEye showed the ball would have hit off and middle at a comfortable height.

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Piyush Chawla needed extra game: MS Dhoni

NAGPUR: Having achieved the first target of qualifying for the knockout stage, India should now be looking to turn the rest of the group matches for some useful practice and ward off the weaknesses that have plagued them on the way. The league tie against South Africa will show India their weaknesses and also what to expect when the tournament enters the next phase.

"We are already in the quarterfinals but getting two big games always helps you to get that bit of momentum going your way. But as I have always stressed, doing well on that particular day is more important," MS Dhoni said after the team's only practice session at the VCA Jamtha Stadium on Friday.

Although, India's passage into the quarterfinals was not as smooth as expected, the Indian skipper is pleased with the performance so far.

"We have had a tie. We have batted first and scored runs and also chased successfully in the last two matches. We have played on good batting tracks and also on pitches which are slow in nature. So we have had a lot of exposure," he explained.

He firmly defended the decision to persist with Piyush Chawla ahead of R Ashwin despite the leggie not in the best of form. He also took a dig at the journalists for criticising the youngster heavily. "Frankly, I am not bothered by what others say. When I select a team, I try to look at it as how honest I am. Piyush needed a game more than Ashwin because of the kind of applause he has received from you people," he said.

The captain played down the 'expectation factor' saying the team is more concerned about the process of doing well continuously rather than winning. "We are not thinking about the expectations. We are focusing on improving the performance all the time. There are areas for improvement and we are aware of that. Fielding cannot improve overnight but I think we haven't done too badly," he said. He expected bigger starts from the openers because it will help the middle and lower order to carry the momentum further. "If our openers can bat as long as possible, it will be good for us. Because, from what we have seen, if Sachin and Viru get going, it is difficult to stop them," he said.

Dhoni had hit back-to-back hundreds at VCA Jamtha ground when he promoted himself to No.3 position last year. Will he push himself up the order this time also? "Records are fine but that doesn't mean that I will again come up. It all depends on the match situation," he clarified.

We look for a big partnership, says Smith

South African captain Graeme Smith is surprised that his spinners have come to the fore and caused some confusion in the minds of the opposition. "Our spinners were quite successful in this World Cup. It is a welcome thing for us. Our fast bowling attack was predictable. With spinners coming to the fore, our opponents will be little more careful now. They will have to do more thinking to tackle us," said Smith during the press conference on Friday.

Smith also had a word of praise for MS Dhoni. "I have got a lot of respect for MS. I like him as a person and as a captain. A team has its own philosophy. India have a powerful batting line-up and they have used their part-timers well. The key to success against India is to have a partnership going," he said.

The SA captain did not think game against India is the biggest match of the World Cup. "I don't look at it that way. There is lot of cricket to be played. One thing in our mind is that we would want to win tomorrow," said Smith.

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