IND vs ENG: Why was Zak Crawley given out LBW despite the ball missing the stumps on DRS?

India took a 2-1 lead over England in the five-match Test series after winning the third Test by 434 runs on Sunday, February 18, at Niranjan Shah Stadium, Rajkot. Yashasvi Jaiswal (214*), Shubman Gill (91), Sarfaraz Khan (68*) and Ravindra Jadeja (5/41) shone on Day 4 as England capitulated for 122 chasing a massive target of 557.

While the day was full of several notable performances by Indian players, a controversial LBW decision of Zak Crawley also made headlines during England’s second innings. The English opener was trapped in front by Jasprit Bumrah in the ninth over of the innings and was adjudged LBW by on-field umpire Kumar Dharmasena. Unhappy with the decision, Crawley straight away went for a review but the ball-tracking showed "umpire’s call" on ‘hitting’ and the decision stood as "out".

However, after a closer look at ball-tracking, it was seen that the ball was missing the stumps but it was still shown as the umpire’s call on hitting which left Crawley fuming as he took the long walk back to the pavilion. England captain Ben Stokes was also left flummoxed with the decision and had a chat with the ICC match referee Jeff Crowe about it.

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Crowe informed the England skipper that as per the ball-tracking calculations, the ball was hitting the stumps but the image shown was wrong.

“He (match referee Jeff Crowe) was giving us some information around how it was judged to be given out when the ball was not hitting the stumps on the DRS replay. The ball did not hit the stumps on the replay. Apparently, it was that the numbers said it was hitting the stumps but the image was wrong, I don't really understand what has gone on there. I think when people are in charge of it say something has gone wrong, that is enough in itself," Stokes was quoted as saying by talkSPORT Cricket.

Notably, Crawley’s LBW call in the second innings of the second Test in Visakhapatnam also became the talk of the town after he was trapped by Kuldeep Yadav. The ball seemed to be missing the leg stump on the replay, however, much to everyone’s surprise, it ended up hitting the stumps leaving the entire cricketing fraternity baffled.

On that occasion, Stokes had said that the technology got it wrong and after another controversial call in the Rajkot Test, Stokes has asked to completely get rid of the umpire’s call.

They should take away the umpire's call: Ben Stokes

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“My personal opinion is if the ball is hitting the stumps, it is hitting the stumps. They should take away the umpire's call if I'm being perfectly honest. I don't want to get too much into it because it sounds like we are moaning and saying that is why we lost the Test match,” he further said.

Meanwhile, after losing the third Test, England have their back against the wall heading into the fourth Test beginning from Friday, February 23, at JSCA International Stadium Complex, Ranchi.