Usman Khawaja was upset when he got out in the controversial call of the umpire in the Knockout match of BBL 2021-22. The umpire’s decision guided his Sydney Thunder team to get out of the title race.
At the beginning of their innings, Khawaja returned to the dressing room with a catch by Fawad Ahmed off Matthew Short, and despite many attempts, his team, the Thunder, could not reach the port of victory. As a result, Thunder lost to Adelaide Strikers by six runs in last night’s thriller match.
However, the on-field umpire was not sure whether Ahmed had caught the ball cleanly, so it was sent to a video review. But after giving the review, the umpire had to give a soft signal, which he gave out.
After watching the replay a few times, it was unclear if Ahmed had a finger under the ball or touched the grass. As a result, Khawaja returned to the dressing room for 23 runs as the third umpire did not have enough evidence to refute the soft signal.
Khawaja later told the media that he accepted the umpire’s decision on the field but disagreed with him. Because it looked like the ball had touched the grass. But the umpire earlier gave him a soft signal, and the third umpire did not clearly understand the matter in the video.
If the on-field umpire had given not out as a soft signal, then perhaps the third umpire would have given it as a not out as well. As a result, Khawaja could bat on the wicket and take the team to victory.
On the other hand, cricket legend Michael Vaughan has also spoken against the soft signal rule. He said that, Ever since the soft signal rule was introduced in cricket, whether it was right or wrong, it has always been a topic of discussion, and that has gone against Khawaja. So he was never a big fan of soft signals, and he will advise using technology.