England captain Ben Stokes has not been pleased with the ball-tracking technology ‘Hawkeye’ in the ongoing Test series. After expressing his concerns over Zak Crawley’s dismissal in the Vizag Test, Stokes is unhappy with how DRS went against the opener on Day 4 of the Rajkot Test. As England could not gain momentum and were reduced to 18/2 before the last session in the run chase of 557, Stokes went on to say that the on-field umpire’s call should be taken away.
After the 434-run defeat, Stokes with head coach Brendon McCullum was even seen having a conversation with match referee Jeff Crowe regarding the issue. However, they were informed that the decision was correct but the projection wasn’t.
“I think when people are in charge of it says something has gone wrong that is enough in itself,” Stokes told talkSPORT.
“You just want a level playing field. The umpires have an incredibly hard job as it is, especially in India when the ball is spinning.
“My personal opinion is if the ball is hitting the stumps, it is hitting the stumps. They should take away umpire’s call, if I’m being perfectly honest.”
Crawley was dismissed lbw by Jasprit Bumrah on the stroke of tea break. He was visibly unhappy as he made his way back to the dressing room. England suffered a batting collapse in the third session and were bowled out for 122, suffering their second-biggest Test defeat in terms of runs.
Stokes confident of winning the series
Meanwhile, Stokes admitted that England were outclassed in every department of the game. However, he feels that England can still win the series.
“We were outplayed. Did we go into our shells a little bit because of the situation? That’s not what we do. I don’t think we need to temper anything, we need to look at our execution this week,” he told the reporters in Rajkot.
“Losing games for England isn’t where you want to be but games are won or lost in the head. You’ve got to learn from disappointment but use it in a positive way, not let it eat you.
“I know that thinking too deep into certain things can send you on a downhill spiral. It’s about what we do the next two games.
“I just make sure all the emotion, all the disappointment there would be in that dressing room, make sure it stays there. We’ve got two games left and all I’m thinking about is winning this series 3-2.”
The next Test will be played in Ranchi starting February 23.
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