Follow UsMohammad Hafeez becomes the latest one from the cricketing world, calling for doing away with umpire's call. The Pakistan team director believes there should be no room for umpire's call in cricket, which the likes of Shane Warne and Sachin Tendulkar too had called for previously.
Pakistan went down by 79 runs in the second Test against Australia in Melbourne, and with that, have also lost the series with one game to go. The former all-rounder praised his team for a good performance but has called for umpire's call to be given out, regardless of the on-field umpire's decision.
"There's always room for improvement in cricket. Umpire's call creates such doubt that it changes the game completely," Hafeez said after the MCG Test.
"It favours one team and hurts the other. It has to be changed. If it's hitting the stumps, it should always be out. When the ball hits the stumps, it's always out. How can you have a situation where a ball is hitting the stumps and [it's not out] because of the umpire's call? This has to be looked at."
Pakistan were victims of several umpire's calls, but most notably, Mitchell Marsh was given a reprieve due to the umpire's call when he was batting on just 25. He cashed in on it and eventually scored 96.
Hafeez believes that Pakistan were the better side in the game.
"We prepared ourselves very well. The way the team had the courage to take this game in the best possible way. If I sum up the game, the Pakistan team played better than the other team in general. Our batting intent was better, and while bowling, we were hitting the right areas," Hafeez said.
"This game, we were very close, but we couldn't win. We made some mistakes, conceding 52 extras, which really hurt us. And then crumbling from 124 for 1 to lose five main batters, that was a crucial moment we couldn't win in the game. And then Australia were 16 for 4, we dropped a couple of catches that should have been taken.
"There were certain moments in the game we couldn't win. If we had taken our chances and won those crucial moments, perhaps this match would have ended earlier, and we would have won. But this is the way the game goes; if you make a mistake, this game can hurt you.
"I would like to congratulate Australia on a series win for sure they play good cricket. But as a team, I'm really proud of the fact that the Pakistan team showed great courage, great intent and played with great passion."
With the series already decided, Pakistan, who have already lost 15 Tests in a row in Australia, will look to snap the streak in the third Test in Sydney, starting January 3.