Few topics in cricket technology spark as much debate as the Decision Review System’s (DRS) “umpire’s call.” A new cricexec poll of global cricket executives has revealed just how divided the industry remains: exactly 50% believe umpire’s call should be scrapped, while 50% want it retained.
The result mirrors the sport’s wider discourse, where legends, current players, commentators, and administrators have lined up on both sides of the argument.
Sachin Tendulkar’s call for clarity
The most influential critic of umpire’s call has been Sachin Tendulkar, who recently reiterated his stance that the rule should be abolished. “I would change the DRS rule on Umpire’s Call. Players have chosen to go upstairs because they were unhappy with the on-field Umpire’s Call. Hence, there should be no option to go back to that call. Technology even when inaccurate will be consistently inaccurate,” Tendulkar said in a Reddit AMA.
He has long argued that cricket should follow tennis’ binary model: “It’s either in or out, there’s nothing in between.”
Ben Stokes and England’s frustrations
England captain Ben Stokes has been one of the most vocal current players calling for change. After teammate Zak Crawley was given out lbw in Rajkot under a contentious umpire’s call, Stokes said he was “bemused” by the decision and later clarified: “My personal opinion is if the ball is hitting the stumps, it is hitting the stumps. They should take away umpire’s call, if I’m being perfectly honest.”
Stokes has stressed he isn’t blaming results on DRS but wants “a level playing field” in decisions.
Former England captain Michael Vaughan has added another layer, calling for transparency: “The most important operators of decisions now are in the trucks. We need to have a camera in the truck to give an understanding of how it all comes to that decision. All I want is full transparency.”
The case for keeping umpire’s call
On the other side of the divide, Nasser Hussain has consistently defended the rule as necessary to account for technology’s margin of error. “Umpire’s call is needed as ball hasn’t hit the stumps, it is just a projection. The technology, with its range of error in there, is predicting that it might well hit the stumps. It never actually hits the stumps. That’s the difference, and that’s why you need the margin of error.”
Anil Kumble, who chaired the ICC Cricket Committee in 2021, also supported keeping it: “The principle underpinning DRS was to correct clear errors in the game whilst ensuring the role of the umpire as the decision-maker on the field of play was preserved, bearing in mind the element of prediction involved with the technology.”
Michael Atherton, meanwhile, has pointed out that DRS has been “one of the triumphs of the ICC” compared to VAR in football: “There may be a margin of error there and you are talking about an extrapolation, something that hasn’t happened.”
Kohli, Lara, and the players’ perspective
Virat Kohli has previously joined Tendulkar in criticising umpire’s call, saying it “creates a lot of confusion” – “From basic cricket common sense, I don’t think that there should be any debates on that. If the ball is clipping the stumps, it should be out.”
West Indies great Brian Lara has backed Tendulkar’s view in past conversations, agreeing that the on-field decision should not influence reviews once technology is in play.
Technology under the microscope
The debate has also shone a spotlight on Hawk-Eye, the system underpinning DRS. Paul Hawkins, the creator of Hawk-Eye, has defended its accuracy: “There isn’t even a one percent chance of it being wrong… For every DRS incident, we do screen-grabs which show everything the operator shows. This is automatic, we can’t manipulate it.”
Still, repeated controversies—such as Crawley’s dismissal and other marginal calls in the India-England series—have kept scrutiny high.
A sport at a crossroads
The cricexec poll result – an exact 50-50 split – captures the dilemma facing cricket’s leaders. Half the industry believes umpire’s call undermines consistency and credibility, while the other half sees it as essential to maintaining both umpire authority and technological integrity.
For now, the ICC continues to back the status quo, but with icons like Tendulkar, Kohli, and Stokes demanding reform, the pressure is mounting. As the poll shows, this is no longer a fringe debate—it is a defining question for cricket’s future balance between tradition, technology, and trust.
