'Bails will come off even if the ball is clipping' - Sunil Gavaskar upvotes Sachin Tendulkar's statement on 'Umpire's Call'

The Day 3 of the ongoing Test between India and Australia at the Melbourne Cricket Ground saw hosts looking dead and buried against a fierce Indian bowling attack. The hosts lost their six wickets at just 133 runs while batting in the second innings but they were backed with massive luck too as two Australian batsmen survived after the umpire’s call was taken into account at the point of the ball hitting their leg.

The opening batsman Joe Burns and Number 3 batter Marnus Labuschagne had survived LBW against Jasprit Bumrah and Mohammed Siraj respectively while batting in the second innings as the ball was just touching the bails and the third umpire adjusted it as umpire’s call. In both cases, the on-field umpire had given their original decision in the favour of the hosts.

The batting legend Sachin Tendulkar wasn’t impressed with the rule of the umpire’s call as he urged the International Cricket Council (ICC) to revisit the Decision Review System (DRS) rules. “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’,” Sachin Tendulkar 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’.#AUSvIND

— Sachin Tendulkar (@sachin_rt) December 28, 2020

If everything is given out, we could have really short matches: Sunil Gavaskar

The former Indian captain Sunil Gavaskar also agreed with Sachin Tendulkar’s opinion as he gave an example of Steve Smith’s dismissal to prove the point. In the second innings, Bumrah bowled down the leg to Smith and the ball just managed to clip his leg-stump. Instead of bails, if the ball had struck the pads of Steve Smith, then he would have been not-out had the umpire thought so and the umpire’s call would have stood.

“I think the Steve Smith dismissal shows that even when the ball clips the stumps, its speed is so much that it can remove the bails. If you are appealing for leg-before wicket and if the ball is going to clip the stumps, the speed is such, even spinner’s, that the bails will come off,” said Gavaskar to ABC Sport.

However, Gavaskar also believes that if everything that is clipping the stumps will be given out, then it would be extremely difficult for the batsmen to survive and the fans will have really short games to witness.

“If everything is given out, we could have really short matches,” added Gavaskar.