The third umpire has been entrusted with the responsibility of calling front foot no-balls by the ICC in the ongoing T20I series and subsequent ODI series between India and the West Indies on a trial basis.

Interestingly, third umpire Anil Chaudhary did intervene on three occasions during the first T20I in Hyderabad with all the decisions going in India's favour.

See Also: Pollard critical of his bowlers after West Indies' loss in Hyderabad 

If the trials provide satisfactory results at the end of the limited-overs series, TV umpire’s role might become more significant – having to watch every delivery for the no-ball besides performing DRS duties.

As far as the reaction of players for this new trial is concerned – India opener KL Rahul while addressing the media after the opening game said: “It was our first game too. So, it was interesting. I didn’t know what to expect. Fortunately for us, we were on the good side this time, where we got two-three decisions to go in our favour.”

“I think I am happy, that you got to just keep the game fair. As a bowler you make the mistake of overstepping and somebody sees it… Like I said, it makes the game more fair,” he added.

West Indies bowlers were at the receiving on all three occasions as they found guilty of overstepping. Every slip-up was flagged upstairs and eventually signalled by the on-field umpire.

Sharing his two cents on this technological addition, West Indie skipper Kieron Pollard told reporters: “It is what it is. With some things, I look at life, where you control what you can control. I can’t control what they do and what rules they bring into cricket and things like that. For me, I am not going to fuss and fight. If that’s how they are going to do it, that’s just what it is.”

“We just have to keep our foot behind the line. Once we do that, the umpire upstairs will not come into play.”

Thiruvananthapuram will host the second T20I of the series on Sunday (December 8).

(Inputs from Hindustan Times)