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Former Pakistan captain Javed Miandad believes the International Cricket Council (ICC)’s endorsement of players being allowed to make appeals to the third umpire would make a mockery of the game.

An ICC committee recently recommended players be allowed a limited number of appeals to the third umpire if they feel a decision made by the on-field umpire is incorrect during this year’s ICC Champions Trophy in India.

“This will complicate things. It basically sends a message to the umpires ‘we don’t have confidence in you’,” the 48-year-old told Reuters. Miandad, who played 124 Tests and 233 One-day Internationals from 1975 to 1996, said leg before decisions were impossible to get right all of the time, even with the aid of television.

“The technology is not always correct and there is no relevancy between a umpire taking a decision in a fraction of a second and these later shown in slow motion,” he said. Players would be allowed three appeals per innings to the third umpire if they dispute a decision.

Miandad said part of the appeak of cricket lay in umpires controlling the proceedings and that sometimes the benefit of the doubt went to batsmen and at other times to bowlers. The ICC should hold discussions with top players over a period of time before introducing any new regulations. “They introduced the super sub in one-dayers in a hurry and it failed,” he said.

However, former captain Rashid Latif, who played 37 Tests and 166 one-dayers until 2003, backed the right to appeal. “It will help in sorting out leg before decisions where there is an inside edge, or on catches that come off the pad,” he said.

“One poor decision can change the outcome of a match and affect a player’s career.” He even called for using electronic line calls for no-balls. Former Pakistani Test umpire Mahboob Shah, who supervised 28 Tests and 32 one-dayers, also supported the use of technology. “This was coming, especially with more and more umpires making some ridiculous decisions,” said the 67-year-old Shah.

Source:The News