Why did Rohit do it?

Two major cricket controversiesmdashrun outs at the bowlerrsquos end and catches referred to the third umpiremdashhave reared their ugly head again creating further headaches that shouldrsquove been alleviated long agoThe run out at the bowlerrsquos end could have and should have been resolved easilyThe original law was more than adequate and should never have been changed Itrsquos a reminder that there are generally two solutions to a problemmdasha simple one and the other more complicatedCricket is renowned for choosing the complicated solutionAttempting a run out at the bowlerrsquos end without warning a batsman is not unsporting Appealing for a catch that a fielder knows hersquos caught should not be subjected to crowd booing as itrsquos legalIn the Guwahati game against Sri Lanka Irsquod have preferred if Indian captain Rohit Sharma had enforced rather than rescinded the run out appeal against his opposite number Dasun ShanakaButtler run out controversyAs I said to Ravichandran Ashwin during Indiarsquos 202021 tour of Australia ldquoKeep on running out batsmen at the nonstrikerrsquos end until they finally work out that what they are doing is illegalrdquoAshwin had run out Jos Buttler at the bowlerrsquos end in a 2019 IPL game His actionsmdashwhich shouldrsquove been applaudedmdashwere widely decried and even described as ldquocontrary to the spirit of the gamerdquo by the MCCHow could it be against the spirit of the game when itrsquos legal according to cricketrsquos lawsWhy is the bowler regularly admonished by the public and often booed for cheating when it is the batsman who is trying to gain an advantageIf a batsman backs up as he shouldmdashwatching the bowlerrsquos hand with his bat in the crease and only leaving when the ball is actually deliveredmdashhe wonrsquot be run out In the process he may also gain some information that will help when later hersquos at the strikerrsquos end facing that same bowlerBowlers should be able to bring their arm over without releasing the ball and then break the stumps to effect a run out This was correctly allowed under the old law If batsmen were run out under that law they would quickly learn to back up legallyMore than a decade ago England were fielding when they appealed for a catch against a Sri Lankan batsman A number of English commentators bemoaned the not out decision made by the Sri Lankan video umpire so the next morning Tony Greig reenacted a fair catch from the same onfield positionThe various cameras collected shots of Greigrsquos reenactment and despite him depicting a fair catch from some angles it appeared as a bump ball As this case showed a picture doesnrsquot always tell the truthGreigrsquos well thought out move should have put a definite end to catch replays being sent to the third umpire At the same time the administrators needed to widely circulate among the media that onfield umpires would in future adjudicate on catchesThe trust factorHowever this move was never made and consequently catches are still referred to the third umpire Surprise surprise there were three such referrals in the SCG Test between Australia and South Africa and all of them created controversyAn honest fielder knows when hersquos caught the ball There are certain thingsmdasha ball that bounces goes straight into the palm rather than lodging in the fingers firstmdashan umpire needs to understand before he makes his decision An umpire should also be aware of a fielderrsquos trustworthiness and this should be considered when making a decisionEach administration needs to ensure team captains are aware of their responsibility to make sure the fielding side behaves with integrityUmpires should be making the onfield decision about catches and not referring them tomdashin this casemdashan unreliable video system Umpires already give a soft signal so why shouldnrsquot they actually make the decisionThere is already enough controversy surrounding the game of cricket without the administrators unnecessarily contributing to the drama