Sohail incident reignites DRS debate

An lbw shout that a decade ago would not have even warranted an appeal let alone serious consideration by an umpire has reignited a debate over how the rule is applied in the Decision Review System era. 

Australia were denied the wicket of Haris Sohail on an lbw review during the second day of their first Test against Pakistan, with the left-hander profiting from the reprieve on 51 to push on to an otherwise chanceless maiden Test century in Dubai.

The incident, which came at a crucial juncture of the match, surfaced memories of Steve Smith's dismissal to Keshav Maharaj at the WACA Ground two years ago, while it also exposed divergent opinions from a number of former Test players.

On 51, Sohail danced down the pitch to off-spinner Nathan Lyon but, finding himself not quite to the pitch of the ball after being deceived in flight, padded the ball away with a lunging front leg. 

Australia's appeal was turned down by umpire Richard Illingworth but after a lengthy consultation between bowler Nathan Lyon and skipper Tim Paine, Australia opted for what initially appeared an ambitious review.

While HawkEye deemed the ball the ball to have struck the left-hander in line and suggested the ball would have gone on to hit the woodwork, Sohail was spared as the impact of ball on pad was more than three metres away from the stumps.

Pakistan were 4-341 at the time and while Australia eventually engineered a collapse of 6-72 to finish off the innings, Sohail (110) Asad Shafiq (80) extended their partnership to 150 to push the game to very edge of Australia's reach with a first-innings tally of 482.

Debutant Marnus Labuchagne later admitted he'd had to brush up on the specifics of the rule that spared Sohail.

"When it's outside that three-metre radius, it goes back to umpire's call just because there's obvious doubt," Labuschagne explained post-play.

"When we saw that, I think Tim was just getting some clarification on the meaning of that and how it worked.

"We were discussing a little bit in the huddle whether the rule had been changed, whether the three-metre rule...I definitely didn't know (before the incident)." 

The nuance that Labuschagne correctly identified is a little-known one.

It was introduced by the International Cricket Council into Test cricket's playing conditions in 2011 due to its belief that ball-tracking technology can’t accurately predict distances as great as the one Sohail had created between his leg and the stumps.

The clause only applies however to reviews from the bowling team of not out decisions. If umpire Illingworth had given Sohail out, the decision would have stood, which would have replicated the situation that saw Smith given out in Perth in 2016.

Former Test batsman Mark Waugh took issue with the rule, especially given Sohail was spared despite not offering a shot

"As soon as you don’t play a shot I reckon you should be able to be given out on the DRS even if it’s outside the three metres," Waugh said on Fox Cricket.

"Fair enough if you play a shot, I’ll happily live with that but if you don’t play a shot I reckon you should be given out otherwise you’ll have blokes running down the wicket and padding up to balls knowing they won’t be given out.

"It should be given out anyway."

But Dean Jones, another former Australia batsman, disagreed, insisting lbws shouldn't be given out when a batsman is more than three metres down the track.

"No way can any system or umpire, can say with any fair amount of confidence, that the ball would hit the stumps," Jones tweeted.

Paine, incidentally, has a history with this type of review.

In a 2011 ODI against England at the WACA, he was given out on review, despite have been struck on the pad more than 2.5 metres (a distance that was only later extended to three metres) away from the stumps. 

England had reviewed umpire Paul Reiffel's not out decision, and ball tracking showed the delivery would have hit the stumps halfway up. Under the playing conditions in play at the time, Reiffel would have been within his rights to stick with his not out call but opted not to overrule the technology. 

The way umpires used the system was tweaked midway through the World Cup in India later that same year, but the issue has continued to be a hot-button topic. 

Smith's dismissal to Maharaj prompted an exasperated response from the then-Test captain, with Shane Warne labelling it a poor decision but Ricky Ponting describing it a "magnificent" one. 

Australia profited from the increased willingness of international umpires to give a batter out regardless of how down the wicket they are the following year against Bangladesh at the Champions Trophy.

Shakib al-Hasan immediately reviewed an lbw decision given off the bowling off spinner Travis Head but despite the DRS coming up ‘Umpire’s Call’ on point of impact, the original ‘out’ decision stood.

"It's unusual for a batsman to be given out lbw after coming down the wicket – I've never witnessed something like that before,” Shakib said.

"Since umpires have started giving this type of decisions I hope consistency is maintained. Let's see what happens next."

Australia: Aaron Finch, Usman Khawaja, Shaun Marsh, Mitchell Marsh, Travis Head, Marnus Labuschagne, Tim Paine (c & wk), Mitchell Starc, Peter Siddle, Nathan Lyon, Jon Holland

Pakistan: Imam-ul-Haq, Azhar Ali, Haris Sohail, Asad Shafiq, Babar Azam, Mohammad Hafeez, Sarfraz Ahmed (c & wk), Bilal Asif, Mohammad Abbas, Yasir Shah, Wahab Riaz

Qantas Tour of the UAE

Australia Test squad: Tim Paine (c), Ashton Agar, Brendan Doggett, Aaron Finch, Travis Head, Jon Holland, Usman Khawaja, Marnus Labuschagne, Nathan Lyon, Mitch Marsh, Shaun Marsh, Michael Neser, Matthew Renshaw, Peter Siddle, Mitchell Starc

Pakistan Test squad: Sarfraz Ahmed (c), Azhar Ali, Fakhar Zaman, Imam-ul-Haq, Babar Azam, Asad Shafiq, Haris Sohail, Usman Salahuddin, Yasir Shah, Shadab Khan, Bilal Asif, Mohammad Abbas, Hasan Ali, Wahab Riaz, Faheem Ashraf, Mir Hamza, Mohammad Rizwan, Mohammad Hafeez

Sep 29 - Oct 2: Tour match v Pak A, Dubai

Oct 7-11: First Test, Dubai

Oct 16-20: Second Test, Abu Dhabi