Ben Stokes blames technology for Zack Crawley’s dismissal in 2nd Test vs India

The 2^nd Test in Vizag of the 5-match Test series between India and England ended up being in favour of the hosts as they defeated the visitors by 106 runs. The Test match went on for four days where the Indian batters put up a competitive total of 396 on the board on the back of a phenomenal double hundred from Yashasavi Jaiswal. The England team came into bat with all guns blazing but were finally undone by a brilliant spell from Jasprit Bumrah to get bowled out for 253 and give the Indians a big lead. The next innings saw another great performance from Shubman Gill which was enough to set a big target of 399 for the England team to chase down. The English batters tried their best but were eventually bowled out for 292 with the series being levelled 1-1.

The only batter who gave some hope to England’s chances was none other than Zack Crawley who scored 70+ runs in both the innings to keep England in the game. These two knocks from Crawley were a great display of batting where he played some aggressive shots, but also played some sensible cricket in the middle as well. However, these innings were not enough to get the England team over the line with the other batters either throwing away their starts or playing rash shots in the middle. After the dismissal of Crawley, it was all a massive collapse.

Ben Stokes’ surprising response to Crawley’s dismissal

The second innings went down the drain after the dismissal of Crawley who was looking good on 73 and was giving the England team a chance in this match. Crawley faced a delivery that went onto skid onto his pad from a middle and leg line from Kuldeep Yadav. The umpire Marais Erasmus had signaled it not out and it seemed to be just a desperate review from skipper Rohit Sharma. However, the ball tracker showed that the ball would have gone onto crash into the leg stumps and the decision was overturned.

“Zak Crawley’s LBW decision was the wrong one by the technology,” Stokes said.

This was a surprising moment for the England players who felt that the ball was either going down the leg or pitching outside off. England’s skipper went on to blame the technology for the dismissal as well. This seemed like a really childish response from Stokes who is supposed to be one of the most experienced and successful all-rounders in the England team. It’s understandable that the England skipper is frustrated after losing the match, but there are surely better ways of dealing with these situations and the blame game is not one of them.