India captain Virat Kohli questions umpire's soft-signal and allays injury fears

NICK HOWSON: As the hosts claimed a fine eight-run victory to level the series at 2-2, the captain calmed concerns he could miss Saturday's decider after being absent during the closing stages of the fourth T20

India v England: 4th T20 scorecard

Suryakumar stars and soft signal chaos... INDIA V ENGLAND TALKING POINTS

Virat Kohli believes a change to regulations regarding an umpire's soft-signal is required after a controversial episode during the fourth T20 against England in Ahmedabad.

Dawid Malan's catch at deep square-leg to dismiss Suryakumar Yadav was referred to the TV umpire but was tentatively given out by the on-field official KN Ananthapadmanabhan.

Virender Sharma studied the footage for four minutes but was unable to come to a conclusive view, meaning the original decision stood. Replays appeared to show the ball slip from the England batsman's grasp but it wasn't clear if it grazed the ground.

During their commentary stints on Sky Sports, both Dinesh Karthik and Michael Atherton questioned the legitimacy of the soft-signal for borderline catches, with the former England captain labelling them a "nonsense".

MCC World Cricket Committee said in February that umpires could provide an "'unsighted' instruction" to TV officials instead of a definitive view for catches near the boundary. The recommendation has been shared with the ICC.

Kohli has supported the idea and though Yadav was prevented from building on his maiden half-century, India were not overly impacted as they won by eight runs.

"There was an instance that happened in the Test series where I was next to Jinx (Ajinkya Rahane) and he clearly caught the ball but then I wasn't sure and I asked him and he wasn't sure and we went up straight away," said Kohli.

"If it is a half-and-half effort and the fielders are in doubt then I don't think the umpires from square leg would see that clearly and make a conclusive call.

"The soft signal becomes that much more important and I don't know why there cannot be an 'I don't know' from the umpire as well. Why does it have to be a conclusive one? That overturns the whole decision completely.

"Similar to the argument we have for umpire's call as well is that these things can really change the course of a whole game, especially in a big game. 

^{Kohli expects to be fit for the fifth T20 on Saturday}

"We are on the other side but you want these things ironed out as much as possible to keep the game simple, keep it linear. It is not ideal in a high-pressure game which has a lot of things riding on it and a lot at stake."

Some fine death bowling from Hardik Pandya, Bhuvneshwar Kumar and Shardul Thakur saw India draw level at 2-2 to set up a decider in the fifth and final T20 on Saturday (March 20).

The skipper was a notable absentee during the closing stages, with vice-captain Rohit Sharma directing traffic, but Kohli has allayed fears he has suffered any long-term damage.

"I just aggravated my upper quad a little bit and I didn't want to make it into a niggle or an injury," he said. "It is nothing serious and I should be fine by the day after tomorrow. 

"I probably took a smarter decision to come off and not sprint five or six more times and probably do it up more because we have an important game coming up."

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