LBW Dismissal of Joe Root Sparks DRS Controversy in Fourth Test
The controversial lbw dismissal of Joe Root during the third day of the fourth Test against India has reignited questions about the accuracy of the Decision Review System (DRS).
Root, England’s centurion from the previous innings, was batting confidently alongside Zak Crawley when he was adjudged lbw after playing straight 11 dots to Ravichandran Ashwin’s delivery.
The initial on-field call was not out as it looked from the naked eye but India opted for a review, which showed the ball was well hitting the leg stump after pitching fractionally inside the line.
The decision, however, left many baffled, including Root himself. Social media erupted with skepticism, and former England captains Michael Vaughan and Steve Harmison expressed their doubts about the ball-tracking technology’s accuracy.
Vaughan, who later deleted his tweet, wrote, “That looked a shocker for the technology. More than half the ball was outside leg stump, yet it came up red! Hawkeye is having an average series.”
Harmison echoed similar sentiments, stating, “It didn’t look right. From the naked eye, it just didn’t look right. From where the technology said the ball hit the stumps, from the angle Ashwin is bowling at I just don’t see how the ball can hit the stumps from that point from where it’s pitched.”
The crux of the debate lies in the DRS ball-tracking process. For an lbw decision, the system analyzes the projected path of the ball’s center, not its entire body.
As long as 50% or more of the ball is predicted to hit the stumps afer pitching inline, the dismissal is upheld, regardless of the visual perception of its initial trajectory.
Former England bowler Steven Finn explained the technicality, stating, “The technology that is meant to be very accurate, they’re saying that what it looks like is 51 percent of that ball is pitching within the outside line of the stump and therefore it’s out.”
While the DRS upheld the decision, the incident has reignited discussions about the limitations of the technology and the potential for marginal calls to significantly impact the course of a match.
