The Decision Review System (DRS) is under scrutiny once again, after a glitch in UltraEdge technology led to a wrongful dismissal of Gujarat Titans’ opener Matthew Wade on Thursday. Wade was looking in fine touch against Royal Challengers Bangalore, having struck two fours and a six an over ago.
In the last over of the powerplay, Wade decided to unleash his trademark sweep shot against Glenn Maxwell. He shuffled across, got down to his knees, but failed to connect, and got pinned on his backfoot. The on-field umpire raised his finger, unhesitatingly.
Wade, however, was confident that the ball has deflected from his gloves, and thus reviewed the decision straightaway. Further replays confirmed that the ball had indeed deflected from his gloves before hitting him on the pad. The UltraEdge, however, showed the faintest of murmurs, not conclusive enough for the TV umpire to overturn the initial decision. There was also a sudden change in the trajectory of the ball, but the readings were considered final.
Three reds on the ball-tracking left Wade with no options other than walking back to the pavilion. On his way, he was consoled by Virat Kohli. Infuriated, the Aussie star threw his bat and helmet around in the dressing room.
Wade’s frustration is understandable. He hasn’t had a great campaign this year, having scored just 116 runs in eight innings. And when he was looking all set for a big total, an umpiring error brought his downfall.
Gujarat Titans lost the game by eight wickets, but they have already qualified for the playoffs. Later on, Hardik Pandya rued the dismissal but maintained that this was just an aberration, as the technology works rightly more often than not.
“I think it was slightly there (spike) in the ultra-edge. From the big screen, it was not visible. Because you can’t fault, if technology is not helping, then I don’t know who’s going to help,” Pandya said at the post-match press conference.
“Obviously, it is nothing personal from anybody but technology sometimes helps, sometimes does not. This time it did not help. But most of the time it has worked and kind of over-turned decisions and most of the time the right decision has been taken,” he added.
Featured Image Credit: ICC
