At the end of the 15th over during England’s batting innings in Indore on Sunday, when drinks were called on the field, Harmanpreet Kaur’s frustration was evident. She was caught on camera, gesturing to Richa Ghosh, using her palms back and forth between her ears, to keep her attention fixed on the line of the stumps when keeping wickets. Because, at the start of the over, Kranti Gaud bowled a terrific in-dipper to Tammy Beaumont which zoned in on the England opener’s legs. The ball thudded into the front pad and trickled down to fine leg – usually a sign the ball is sliding down. But in Beaumont’s case, because of her age-old weakness against the incoming deliveries, she was moving across significantly and playing almost with an off-middle guard. Gaud turned to the umpire and pleaded for a favourable call, but that was about all the interest India showed in that dismissal because Ghosh was busy chasing after the ball as England ran two leg byes.
Harmanpreet’s animated gestures to her wicketkeeper happened at the end of the over because by then the captain, players and support staff had all seen the replays on the big screen: had they reviewed it, Beaumont was a goner. Ghosh, for her part, put her hand up in apology. It’s been a persistent issue for India throughout the tournament. The Decision Review System has often come across as a source of indecision for India.
It wasn’t the first time that they failed to review a LBW call that would have been out, presumably because they had already burnt one of the two available bowling reviews early in the match and hence were reluctant to use up the second too. And more often than not, Ghosh’s calls have been unreliable from behind the stumps, and it has left Harmanpreet in untenable situations as the Indian captain often fields at cover and mid off, where the views to decide LBW proximity are never ideal.
While the Beaumont incident won’t register in the official DRS stat, because it wasn’t reviewed, India’s record is the worst in the tournament when it comes to bowling reviews. As per broadcast info, India have made 11 bowling DRS reviews of which only 3 have been successful and the rest 8, they have gotten wrong – most for any team – for 73% unsuccessful reviews. No team has taken more bowling reviews than India, either and their percentage of unsuccessful reviews is also the highest for any team.
India have lost matches in the World Cup because of problems with both their batting and bowling lineups, and a common thread across all of those performances is less-than-ideal decision-making. The team selections also point to some confusion in the management, as they are still seemingly searching for the right balance between batting depth and bowling options. Smriti Mandhana alluded to poor shot selection after the England defeat. And all this lack of clarity in thinking has been reflected in their reviewing too.
Bowling reviews usually come down to the captain, wicket-keeper and bowler sharing their thoughts and arriving at a consensus within 15 seconds. High pressure, for sure, but India have never quite gotten their processes right. There always seems to be a high degree of emotion involved. It was illustrated within the first 10 overs of India’s bowling innings against Pakistan too. After losing one review off the very first ball, appealing for a caught behind that was not even close, India didn’t use DRS for three LBW calls – all three of those would have been out.
The umpiring during the tournament has come under the scanner and hasn’t helped India’s cause, in some cases, that on-field decisions weren’t given in their favour. Nevertheless, the profligacy with the use of technology has been jarring. Take a couple of instances of batting reviews, for example.
Against South Africa, Deepti Sharma was given out caught behind down leg side. Amanjot Kaur was not even looking at her from the non-striker’s end as the DRS timer ticked down. Deepti was clearly heading towards the dressing room, as the clock ran down to 0. Then out of nowhere, Deepti reviewed it and of course, it was out. Against England, Harleen Deol was given out LBW. After a quick chat with Smriti Mandhana, she started walking away and again the clock ran down. Then suddenly, Mandhana turned to the umpires and gestured for a review. As per DRS rules, only the batter involved can ask for the review, and anyway, the timer had expired, so the umpires didn’t accept this time. But had it been reviewed, it would’ve been lost for good measure.
In a tournament where they have struggled with the two main departments on the field so far, their Indecision Review System hasn’t been impressive either.
The mishaps with technology are a bit more jarring because India have consistently played in recent times with DRS in place, unlike some of the other teams in the women’s game. So there is certainly no lack of experience with how DRS works. In a tournament where they have struggled with the two main departments on the field so far, their Indecision Review System hasn’t been impressive either.
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