Anil Kumble urges ICC to consider bringing back local umpires in Test matches

The ICC Cricket Committee led by former Indian captain Anil Kumble had recently suggested a ban on the usage of saliva to shine the ball amid coronavirus threat. In the post-coronavirus era, only sweat can be applied on the ball even as there were calls for the ICC to allow any artificial substance in order to keep the bowlers in the game. Now, Anil Kumble has come up up with another recommendation where he has suggested to add one more review to the team’s tally of Decision Review System (DRS).

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Anil Kumble elaborates on his suggestion to add one more review

While speaking on Star Sports show Cricket Connected, Anil Kumble elaborated on his suggestion to add one more review to the DRS tally. Anil Kumble said that he thinks the need of the hour is to start cricket. He added that they also felt that because of travel restrictions, there could be quarantine measures. Anil Kumble also pointed out that there aren't too many elite umpires in the panel.

So, they felt that for cricket to kickstart, it is best to use local umpires. Anil Kumble reckoned that most countries don’t have local umpires with the experience of officiating in a Test Match or being part of a Test match. He also said that the reason that ICC started neutral umpiring 20 years ago was because there was the perception of bias.

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Anil Kumble further said that the suggestion for an extra review for both teams is not to root that out but they feel that there could be potential inexperience being in a Test match situation, which is why the advantage of the additional review would probably benefit both the teams. Anil Kumble added that is one of the reasons why they recommended that an additional review should be given to both the teams.

Nomination to ICC Board disqualifies Sourav Ganguly to continue as the BCCI President: Sanjeev Gupta

Sourav Ganguly was included in the ICC Board as a BCCI representative soon after attending its last meeting on March 28. The BCCI President has emerged as a contender for the post of the ICC chairman, which is soon going to be vacant. On Sunday, Sanjeev Gupta sent an email to Sourav Ganguly and other officials, according to The Hindu, where he stated that the new BCCI rulebook disallows anyone from functioning as BCCI President once he has been nominated to the ICC board.

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Sanjeev Gupta stated that according to Rule 14(9) of the BCCI constitution “it is amply clear that as soon as you are nominated to ICC, your post as BCCI president will get vacated automatically forthwith.” However, a BCCI official dismissed Sanjay Gupta’s objection saying that the clause should come into effect only if an office-bearer is elected to the ICC. Otherwise, the BCCI will be forced to nominate someone other than an office-bearer, which will be ridiculous. 

Interestingly, Sanjeev Gupta is the same person who started a conflict-of-interest campaign against high-profile names like Sachin Tendulkar, Rahul Dravid, V.V.S. Laxman and Sourav Ganguly when new reforms were introduced in BCCI’s constitution post-Lodha reforms.

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IMAGE COURTESY: ICC OFFICIAL TWITTER