'Team decision to recall Bell'

Batsman says he was naive to assume ball was dead

The day had begun with the news that the Indian batsmen may be using skin cream to get away from the faint edges which the Hot Spot technology can’t detect, and culminated in Ian Bell’s bizarre run-out that wasn’t. India, however, averted a potentially major row by recalling Bell, a gesture that received all-round appreciation. 

 “Hope they would have done the same thing,” said Dravid when pointed out that Bell was at pains to explain what England would have done if they had found themselves in the same situation.

“If you look at the laws of the game and adhere to them strictly, then probably he was out. But just in the spirit of the game it didn’t feel right and (MS) Dhoni and the team felt during the tea time it was right to ask him to bat again,” Dravid revealed. 

The 38-year-old disclosed that the Indian players didn’t feel good about the whole incident.

“Once he was out, when we came back for tea, the discussion started about it and there was a feeling that while it was out in the laws of the game, but not out in the spirit of the game.

“You could sense the guys feeling that there was something not right about it. Around the same time Andrew Strauss and Andy Flower came to meet Dhoni and (coach) Duncan Fletcher.

“After that Dhoni had a team meeting in which the issue was discussed and there was a unanimity that we should reinstate Bell as we felt it fell in the grey area. And in the spirit of the game he wasn’t probably out,” Dravid elaborated.

Bell admitted that he was very naive to assume that the ball was dead.
“I guess my initial reaction was that the ball was dead. Probably the body language of the bowler too suggested that it was four and I immediately started walking towards dressing room.

“That was naive or probably stupid on my part I guess. I was out according to laws of the game but in the end the right decision was made in spirit of the game. The way they (India) handled the situation was fantastic,” Bell noted.

Meanwhile, the company behind Hot Spot has decided to undertake tests to see if the use of artificial substances on the edge of the bat can trick the cameras.