Parthiv Patel
Parthiv Patel. Image-Sportstar

Former Indian wicketkeeper-batsman Parthiv Patel has said that the soft signal should be done away with and that the third umpire should get a chance to make the decision.

The debate around the soft signal rule once again erupted after India’s Suryakumar Yadav was controversially given out during the 4th T20I against England.

Soft Signal, Parthiv Patel
Dawid Malan takes a dubious catch of Suryakumar Yadav (Photo-Screengrab)

Yadav has swept the ball to deep fine-leg where Dawid Malan claimed a diving catch. When shown on replays, it appeared as if some part of the ball had touched the ground but the third umpire did not have any conclusive evidence to overturn the on-field soft signal which was “OUT”.

“If I have to answer that straight, I don’t think cricket needs a soft signal. You have got to be straightforward. Either it’s out or not out. If you are not sure, go to the third umpire and tell ‘you make your own decision’. ‘We have not seen it, you make your own decision’. That was the case before,” said Parthiv Patel on Star Sports.

“You have got to understand that does not mean you’re not out. When the field umpire goes to the third umpire without any soft signal, that doesn’t mean that you’re not. It’s a decision that the third umpire has to make because ‘we don’t know what happened on the field’,” he added.

Captain Virat Kohli also criticized the soft signal rule at the post-match press-conference following India’s eight-run win where he asked why can’t we have an ‘I don’t know’ call for the on-field umpire.

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“When there’s a half-and-half effort the soft signal becomes more important. I don’t know why there can’t an “I don’t know” call for the umpires. You want these things ironed out to keep the game linear. But we want clarity on the field,” Virat Kohli said in the post-match presentation ceremony.

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