Umpires should be left to adjudge only leg-before decisions while technology takes care of the rest, according to Indian batting legend Sachin Tendulkar. Tendulkar, 36, who begins his 21st year in international cricket next month, even advocated rotating on-field umpires every session of a Test match to give them adequate rest, but denounced the referral system.
Tendulkar, a veteran of 159 Tests and 431 one-day internationals, said he was in favour of more technology in cricket to make the umpire's task more accurate. "It is tough for the umpires to watch the no-balls and watch what's happening in the front," he was quoted as saying on the 'India Today' website. "For basic line decisions, like no-balls and run outs, you must have a laser or something like that. Something like what you have in tennis to decide serves.
"You can call it (a no-ball) with a machine." Tendulkar said bat-pad decisions can be relied on television X-ray technology called "hot spots" which clearly illustrates the first point of contact of the ball - either pad or bat. "They should use the hot spot for bat-pad decisions, so the main umpire has to make only the leg-before calls," he said. "I'm quite happy with the hot spot because that establishes the contact.
"For caught behind and all, the hot spot will come. Close-in catches, again the hot spot will come. You don't need a machine for clean bowled, so only the leg-before decisions is what the umpire has to concentrate on." Tendulkar, the world's most prolific batsman, said three on-field umpires should be nominated so that they can take turns to rest for a session of a Test.
But he did not support the new referral system, where umpires get help from a colleague watching television replays to adjudicate on close decisions. "I'm not particularly happy with the referrals because I'm not convinced of the TV angles," he said. "I wasn't happy when we first went through it (on the tour of Sri Lanka last year).
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