Thaindian News

Karachi, Oct 7 (IANS) Pakistani cricket officials will push the International Cricket Council (ICC) to implement the umpire referral system in One-day Internationals also in a bid to avoid ‘appalling decisions’ like the ones that blew the team’s chances of reaching its first ever Champions Trophy final in South Africa.
According to a report in The News Wednesday, the Pakistan team management as well as senior Board officials were left fuming after a few bad calls by umpires Simon Taufel and Ian Gould went against Pakistan in the Champions Trophy semifinal against New Zealand.

The report said that Pakistan Cricket Board (PCB) is now planning to push for the implementation of referrals in One-dayers too. Video referrals have been permanently implemented in Test cricket from this month.

Some local critics have blamed poor umpiring for the shock defeat.

Taufel adjudged promising youngster Umar Akmal lbw though television replays confirmed later that the ball deflected off the batsman’s bat before hitting the pads. Umar was batting at 55 and his dismissal ended hopes of a big Pakistani total.

Taufel and Gould also turned down a series of confident appeals when the New Zealanders were chasing the target.

The Pakistan team management wrote a stinging post-match report against the standard of umpiring in the semifinal, describing it as “pathetic”.

“We believe that after what happened in the semifinal against New Zealand, the ICC should have the umpire referral system in one-dayers as well,” a PCB official, who requested anonymity, was quoted as saying by the paper.

“There were at least half a dozen poor calls that went against us, mostly at critical situations during the match. It was something that could have been avoided if video referrals were allowed in one-dayers,” he said.

The ICC approved the use of video referrals to challenge umpire’s decisions in Tests earlier this summer. The rule will allow players to challenge decisions, with TV umpires using Hawk-Eye technology to limit blunders by their on-field colleagues.

The ICC has also experimented with video referrals in one-dayers in the past.

It was in the Champions Trophy in 2002 that the ICC experimented with a referral system for lbws and disputed catches. During the tournament which was hosted by Sri Lanka, frequent requests for arbitration did slow the game down, but it was worth it when glaring gaffes were avoided.