Explainer: Why did ICC scrap controversial rule ahead of India vs Australia WTC final?

The Indian cricket team will be up against Australia in the final of the World Test Championship 2023 which is slated to begin from  June 7, 2023, at the Kennington Oval ground in London. Before the all-important big event the International Cricket Council (ICC) which is the main governing body for the operations of cricket in the world, has made slight changes to some rules ahead of the WTC Final. 

The ICC has scrapped off the soft signal rule in which whenever the umpire used to review a decision, he used to give a soft signal of out or not out to the third umpire. However, the rule was criticised a lot by the fans and also the cricket experts for the same. 

What was the 'soft signal' rule?

The soft signal rule basically means, whenever an umpire decides to review a dismissal, he has to give a call of out or not out to the third umpire. Then when the decision is taken to the third umpire, then he sees the replays of the dismissal from all angles and then comes up with a decision. 

Why was the 'soft signal' criticised? 

The 'soft signal' was often criticised by the experts as it created more confusion for the Television Umpires to make decisions on the umpire's soft signal. The umpire used to make calls on the catches which were taken inches ahead of the ground and could not be seen from the naked eye. Sometimes, it’s almost impossible give a conclusive decision from the naked eye and rendering the soft signal is just to check the validation of the catch that the TV umpire had to abide by despite inconclusive TV footage replays. Sometimes, the umpires used to give wrong soft signals which also resulted in some wrong decisions. This is the reason the 'soft signal' rule was criticised. 

"The on-field umpires will consult with the TV umpire before any decisions are taken", ICC said in a statement. The committee chairperson Sourav Ganguly further also quoted as per the ICC, “Soft signals have been discussed at previous cricket committee meetings over the last couple of years. "The committee deliberated this at length and concluded that soft signals were unnecessary and at times confusing since referrals of catches may seem inconclusive in replays." 

Why did ICC scrap off the 'soft signal' rule and what is the new rule?

Now due to all the criticisms, the ICC had decided to scrap off the 'soft signal' rule and the new rule states that the onfield umpire will no longer give the soft signal and whenever a decision has to be taken the onfield umpire has to consult the TV umpire. The new rule will be implemented from June 7, 2023 in the WTC Final between India and Australia.