India vs Australia: Sachin Tendulkar suggests ICC to thoroughly look at contentious 'Umpire's Call'

New Delhi, December 28: Indian cricket legend Sachin Tendulkar has suggested that the International Cricket Council (ICC) should thoroughly look at the contentious 'umpire's call' decision in the Decision Review System. Indian cricketers have often been critical of the DRS due to the grey areas involved in it.

In the ongoing Boxing Day Test between India and Australia at the Melbourne Cricket Ground (MCG), a lot of reviews from both the teams which turned out to be the umpire's call upon review compelled several experts and former cricketers criticised the rule.

During the third day's play, Indians went upstairs to review the leg before wicket appeal against the Aussie batsmen and the ball-tracking technology showed umpire's call as the ball wasn't completely hitting the wickets.

'Umpire's Call' is used when the Decision Review System (DRS) essentially gives the 'benefit of the doubt' to the on-field decision in case of inconclusive technological evidence. When less than 50% of the ball is hitting the stumps, excluding the bails, as per the ball-tracking technology, it's the umpire's call. Teams, however, don't lose out on their reviews if it is used in the final decision.

Tendulkar, who has been one of the biggest critics of the contentious rule for a long time, on Monday (December 28) once again expressed his displeasure urging the ICC to get away with the grey area.

The batting maestro tweeted, "The reason players opt for a review is because they're unhappy with the decision taken by the on-field umpire. The DRS system needs to be thoroughly looked into by the
@ICC, especially for the 'Umpires Call'."

The reason players opt for a review is because they’re unhappy with the decision taken by the on-field umpire.
The DRS system needs to be thoroughly looked into by the @ICC, especially for the ‘Umpires Call’.#AUSvIND
— Sachin Tendulkar (@sachin_rt) December 28, 2020

Even former Australia spinner Shane Warne criticised the umpire's call decision and termed it as an injustice to the bowlers. "I just don't understand the 'umpire's call', if the ball is hitting the wickets (in LBW) it has to be Out," said Warne during the commentary.

Earlier on day three, Australian bowlers came strongly as they restricted India to 326 in 115.1 overs, with Ajinkya Rahane top scoring 112. India added just 49 runs to their overnight total of 277/5 and lost the remaining five wickets in the morning session, and led the Aussies by 131 runs.