TV Umpires are now tasked with looking at every single ball to see if it is a no-ball.
International cricket has seen some frequent umpiring errors lately - and it’s only getting worse. On-filed umpires have been the ire of some fans lately for failing to spot bowlers’ overstepping. Just recently, the Test match between Australia and Pakistan saw umpires fail to call 21 front-foot no-balls bowled. This has made the third umpire’s job much more a necessity of being able to call no-balls.
The International Cricket Council (ICC) has also taken the case seriously, saying that cases such as these aren’t supposed to be happening in the sports highest level. With this, they will be conducting some tests over the next few months, wherein the TV umpire will have the authority to call no-balls. It will be tested for the first time in the limited-overs series between India and the West Indies.
These scenarios aren’t just rampant in the international scene. Even in the Indian Premier League (IPL), no-ball no-calls have been one of the prominent problems of the game. In a 2019 game, Mumbai Indian’s Lasith Malinga overstepped while delivering. The on-field umpire didn’t call a no-ball and this resulted in the loss of their opponents, the Royal Challengers Bangalore.
Virat Kohli was also dumbfounded when discussing the problem, saying that something as simple as a no-ball should easily be caught. In a meeting, IPL chairman Brijesh Patel said that though a third umpire (whose sole purpose is to call no-balls) may not be the proper solution, the task of such may fall to the TV umpire.
‘It will be the third umpire’s duty. There would be no need to have another umpire for this’.
No-balls are supposed to be called as soon as a bowler steps beyond the bowling crease. This makes the delivery null and void, and will not count. To find out more about the rules of cricket, visit Betwala’s page.
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