World Cup 2019: ICC needs to take a serious look at the LED bails

Aaron Finch and Virat Kohli

The LED bails that just refuse to budge have come under heavy criticism from India and Australia captains.

Sunday provided the fifth instance in 14 World Cup games of the bails not coming off the groove despite Jasprit Bumrah's ball hitting the stumps firmly when David Warner was batting in the second over of the innings.

India skipper Virat Kohli urged the ICC to look into the issue. "I don't know, and MS [Dhoni] said we checked the stump hole, as well. The stump was not in very hard, it was actually loose. So I don't know what's actually wrong with the stump, the outer coating of the stump. I have no idea what's going on due to the lights coming on - whether the stump is too thick or too rigid… I have no idea.

Australia's David Warner (left) inspects the bails as India's MS Dhoni looks on at The Oval in London on Sunday. Pic/AFP

"But I'm sure no team would like to see stuff like that when you actually bowl a good ball and then you don't get the guy out, the ball hits the stump and the lights don't come on, or the lights come on and the bail comes back on to the stump. I haven't seen that happen many times in the past," said Kohli.

Australia skipper Aaron Finch said it is unfair on the bowlers. "We were on the right end of it today, but I think going forward, it's a bit unfair at times, isn't it? It does seem to be happening more and more, which is unfortunate. You'd hate to see something like that happen in a World Cup final or a semi-final," he said.

Meanwhile, it is learnt that there has been no change to the set of stumps and zing bails that the ICC has been using since the 2016 World T20.

There were apprehensions that the problem could be with the groove of the stumps or the weight of the zing bails. Since the playing conditions cannot be altered midway through the tournament, any review of the zing bails will take place only after the tournament is over.

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