"It is not a howler..." - Aakash Chopra criticizes Ben Stokes over his 'removal of umpire's call' demand

Former India opener Aakash Chopra has criticized Ben Stokes’ remarks on removing the umpire’s call from the rulebook. Ben Stokes recently said that the umpire’s call should be removed from the DRS after Zak Crawley was given out because of the umpire’s call during the second innings of the third Test which was being played at the Niranjan Shah Cricket Stadium in Rajkot.

Zak Crawley was given out LBW in the second innings of the third Test by umpire Kumara Dharamsena and he had to go back to the pavilion as the DRS showed the umpire’s call in the ball-tracking. He was also given out in a controversial decision during the second Test which was played in Vizag. India won the third Test by a record 434 runs and took a lead of 2-1 in the ongoing five-match series against England with two Test matches remaining in the series that will decide the results.

Aakash Chopra was not happy with Ben Stokes calling to remove the umpire’s call in the DRS as according to the reputed commentator, it is not a howler. Aakash Chopra wasn’t convinced about Stokes’ argument that the umpire’s call should be done away with. In a video shared on his YouTube channel, he elaborated on the rule saying that DRS is not 100% correct and so the decision goes to umpire’s call as it is not completely certain.

“Ben Stokes has said that he dislikes DRS. He asked the umpire’s call to be removed. DRS is not foolproof. So you go towards the umpire’s call as you are not 100% certain. You say that is what was the umpire’s job, so you remain out if the umpire gave it out and not out if he gave it not out. That was the truth. It is not a howler. What you are trying to remove is already removed by default,” the former India opener added.

Ben Stokes is not happy with DRS going India’s way in the series

Ben Stokes is not happy with the decisions going in favor of India multiple times. Zak Crawley has been the victim of some controversial decisions in consecutive Tests. He was given out by the DRS in the second Test but from a naked eye, it looked like the ball will miss the leg stumps easily. In the third Test, he was given LBW by Kumar Dharamsena and the DRS said the umpire’s call which again led to his dismissal where if seen from the naked eye it was looking like the ball would bounce over the stumps.

India and England are facing each other in a five-match Test series where India is leading the series 2-1 and the fourth Test will be played at the Jharkhand State Cricket Association Stadium in Ranchi starting on February 23, Friday. The hosts will look forward to sealing the series in the fourth Test itself to mark their 17th consecutive Test series win at home with the last defeat coming against England in 2012. England needs to win the fourth Test to still hold a chance of winning the series.