'We Shouldn't Doubt The Tracker' - Dinesh Karthik, Harsha Bhogle Discuss Zak Crawley's LBW Incident

England captain Ben Stokes showcased his disbelief with the LBW decision of batsman Zak Crawley during the second innings of the second Test against India. Crawley was caught in front by Indian spinner Kuldeep Yadav. However, at first, the umpire didn’t give it out as it looked from the naked eye that the ball was sliding down. However, India opted for the DRS, and in the replay, it was shown that the ball was hitting the stumps and the decision was overturned.

While speaking in the press conference post-IND vs ENG 2nd Test match, Ben Stokes raised questions over the dismissal of the batsman. Stokes added that as everyone says that the technology is not 100 percent right, it is very fair to say that the technology got it wrong in the case of Zak Crawley. He said that it was his personal opinion.

Harsha Bhogle and Dinesh Karthik discuss Zak Crawley’s LBW incident

While a lot of controversy gathered around the dismissal of Zak Crawley, Indian wicketkeeper Dinesh Karthik and cricket expert Harsha Bhogle explained the whole situation. While speaking on Cricbuzz, Harsha and Karthik had a conversation about the whole incident. During the conversation, Harsha said that at first, it looked like the ball was sliding away and would miss the leg stump.

Harsha Bhogle said that there are cameras that are installed near the wickets and also the tell the trajectory of the ball. Bhogle discussed the positioning of the camera and added that the ball only turned two degrees. Harsha said that he was a bit surprised as the ball didn’t do enough to miss the stumps.

He said, “All saw it and we said no it is going down the leg side. We have cameras that are sort of wicket to wicket that will give you the trajectory and tell you it’s hitting in line. The first replay that you see is from the spin vision camera, which is a little further away because it has to be either to the left or the right of the wicket-to-wicket camera. If it is to the left it gives you the indication that the ball is sliding away, but in spite of that when we saw the ball tracker, it turned only 2 degrees, I was a bit surprised, I thought it was missing leg stump but it just didn’t turn enough.”

After listening to Harsha Bhogle’s arguments, Dinesh Karthik stated that sometimes Kuldeep Yadav bowls a bit slower through the air due to which he gets some turn. However, when he bowls a bit faster and flatter, he gets less turn and that is what happened in the case of Crawley. He said that there is no point in doubting the tracker as it gives a clear indication of where the ball is pitching.

He said, “So what does happen is, when Kuldeep is bowling around the 80 kmph mark, then he gets a lot of turns which means he is bowling slightly slower. But this one around the 86 kmph mark, he had bowled it much flatter and faster, and hence the less degree of turn, which you said, just two degrees, and that are why on the impact, we all thought that it didn’t do enough for it to missing the stumps, I don’t think we should doubt the tracker, definitely giving you proper information with regards to where the ball is projected.”

Concluding the chat, Harsha Bhogle added that he does not doubt the ball tracker. Bhogle said, “I am not doubting it, it is all that first trajectory, a lot of people on the first go would have said, how come that is going to hit the stumps?”

Zak Crawley was the only shining aspect in the second Test match from England’s batting and was the highest run scorer in both innings of the match.