Ravi Shastri and Ben Stokes have made their opinions – starkly contrasting – public about the controversial LBW dismissal of England opener Zak Crawley in England’s second innings in Visakhapatnam.
While Ben Stokes believes the Hawkeye technology was completely wrong on its part, Shastri suggested people learn more about “camera angles” to know why the Hawkeye was, in his opinion, correct.
In the first session of Day 4 in Vizag, a delivery pitching on leg-stump from Kuldeep Yadav struck Crawley on his pads. After umpire Marais Erasmus gave it not out, Kuldeep convinced Rohit Sharma, India’s skipper, to opt for DRS.
Initially, to the naked eye and slowed-down replays, it looked like the ball from Kuldeep would miss the leg stump, or at best be the umpire’s call. However, the Hawkeye ball-tracking technology showed the ball to be ‘hitting’ the stumps, after going straight after pitching, which meant the on-field decision of not out was to be reversed.
Everyone in the England dressing room was shocked, while on the field, too, the celebrations from the Indian players suggested they had also not expected it to be ‘Hitting’ on Hawkeye.
In the post-match press conference, Ben Stokes said, “Technology got it wrong on this occasion,” about Crawley’s LBW dismissal and Hawkeye technology.
Hawkeye camera has the best straight-line view: Ravi Shastri’s reply to Ben Stokes on Zak Crawley’s LBW Dismissal
Former India head coach and now commentator Ravi Shastri was heard explaining why the decision by Hawkeye’s ball-tracking technology for correct.
Shastri explained that what we see on the television is not the exact straight camera view of the pitch. However, the Hawkeye cameras are placed in exact straight line from the stumps, which means that our observation can be skewed from the angle that we see, but not for the technology.
Shastri reportedly was heard saying, “Two stumps were visible. I seriously hope that people who spend a lifetime in broadcasting learn how camera angles work. If you put a camera at extra cover then all three stumps will be visible. It doesn’t have any bearing on the LBW decision. Hawkeye camera has the best straight-line view of the centre. Everything else is our perception.”
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