HawkEye founder addresses controversy surrounding Joe Root's dismissal in 4th Test against India

England batter Joe Root’s lbw dismissal in the second innings of the fourth Test against India triggered a massive outrage resulting in many casting doubt over the effectiveness of the HawkEye. Root was initially adjudged not out by the on-field umpire but the hosts challenged the decision and opted for the DRS. The decision had to be overturned as the Hawk-Eye suggested that the ball had pitched in the line of the leg-stump adjudicating the English batter out. The debatable decision soon became a bone of contention and amid this controversy, Paul Hawkins, the founder of Hawk-Eye, has now shared his stance on the matter.

“So firstly, you measure the width of the stumps on each day of the Test. That then becomes the lines between what’s pitched in line and what’s not. It was a very close-on (Joe Root call)," Hawkinds told Simon Hughes in the ‘The Analyst’ podcast.

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“It must be 1mm more in than out (Joe Root case) because otherwise, we wouldn’t have said it’s pitched in line. But it is a very close one. As per the laws, we gave the right answer. But we failed in the ability to not be the story and perhaps there’s a learning opportunity to improve our presentation and stuff to make those really close ones slightly clearer,” he explained.

Controversies surrounding the DRS is not something new and HawkEye recently had to apologise to the Pakistan Cricket Board (PCB) for committing an error during a match. HawkEye had made a mistake in judging a decision during a Pakistan Super League (PSL) fixture between Islamabad United and Quetta Gladiators on Thursday.

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The incident took place during the 11th over of the Quetta Gladiators’ innings. On the final ball of the over, Quetta Gladiators captain Rilee Rossouw attempted to play a sweep shot facing Salman Ali Agha but the batter missed and the ball went on to hit him in the pads.

Following an appeal from the Islamabad United players, umpire Aleem Dar deemed Rossouw out. Quetta Gladiators opted for a review and the Hawk-Eye showed that the ball had struck the batter’s pads outside the line of the stumps and it also would have gone on to miss the stumps. The replays baffled many and both Quetta Gladiators and umpire appeared to be surprised.