Front foot no-ball call has to come from the on-field umpire, says Sunil Gavaskar

Third umpire first called front foot no balls in IPL 2020.

Indian legend Sunil Gavaskar has called for the old rule of on-field umpires to call front foot no balls. He said that he does not understand the new rule of third umpire calling front foot no balls. The legendary batsman added that the rule is unfair for the batsman. 

The idea behind the new rule was to avoid any error of mis-calling front foot no balls. However, the new rule takes away the opportunity from the batsmen to change their shot selection as the batsman realises it’s a no ball only after a shot is played. 

“Some changes that have come up are hard to understand. The no ball call has to come from the on-field umpire. This is a little unfair on batsmen; (At least) against the spinners, a batsman has some time to change shot (should they become aware of the no ball early),” Gavaskar said on air during the fourth Test between England and India at the Oval. 

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The former opener added that if the on-field umpire give a wrong call, third umpire can point out the error and correct the decision. 

“They (umpire) should be confident ‘never mind I will give the decision. Even if I am wrong, the TV umpire can tell me that my decision is not right’," Gavaskar said.

The front foot no ball being called late is compensated through free-hit in limited over cricket. However, there is no such provision in Test cricket.