Shaken by umpiring howlers in the first Test against New Zealand, Indian captain Mahendra Singh Dhoni Thursday advocated strong measures to improve on-filed umpiring.
Dhoni said it was important to improve the quality of on-field umpiring rather than depend on the Umpiring Decision Review System.
Dhoni said if the umpiring continues to be bad, India, too, will have to accept the UDRS.
“If they keep on committing the kind of mistakes they are making, whether we are willing or not willing, we’ll have to go with the review system.
“At the same time there should be strong measures to improve the standard of umpiring,” Dhoni said on the eve of the second Test against New Zealand here Friday.
In the first Test at Ahmedabad, V.V.S Laxman and Zaheer Khan were adjudged lbw off successive deliveries with the ball hitting the pad after brushing the bat. Umpire Steve Davis failed to detect the inside edges.
Laxman, who along with Harbhajan Singh pulled India out of trouble in the second innings, missed a deserved century.
“You have two umpires who are supposed to take good decisions on the field. If you see Laxman’s decision (in Ahmedabad), I don’t know what to say about it,” Dhoni said.
“The umpires have too much pressure about the over-rate. The players’ behaviour on the field, the logos and everything apart from giving decisions – that’s the most important part.
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I agree with him.We need more good umpires like Billy Bowden and Simon Taufel.On Field Umpiring must improve.But one good thing that has happened is DRS.