Sachin Tendulkar has suggested that on-field umpires should make only leg-before decisions and technology be allowed to have a final say on all other matters on a cricket field. Tendulkar was all for the increased use of ‘Hot Spot’ technology — which establishes the first point of contact of the ball — for making accurate decisions and taking off the pressure from the on-field officials.

“For the caught behind and all, the Hot Spot will come. Close in catches, again the Hot Spot will come into the picture. When batsmen are bowled, you don’t need a machine, so only the LBW decisions is what the umpire has to concentrate on,” Tendulkar said.

“It is tough for the umpires to watch the no-balls and watch what’s happening in the front. For the baseline decisions you have to have a laser or something like that you can call it with a machine,” he told India Today.

Tendulkar was impressed with the results of the Hot Spot technology and said it could also be used for making the bat-pad decision. “We are still using technology for close catches. They should use the Hot Spot for the bat-pad decision so the main umpire has to only make the LBW calls. I’m quite happy with the Hot Spot because that establishes the contact,” Tendulkar said.

‘Not convinced of the angles’

The prolific batsman though gave a thumbs down to the umpire referral system and also suggested that in a Test match instead of two, three-umpires should do the duty session-wise. “I’m not particularly happy with the referrals because I’m not convinced of the angles (on television) and all. I’m not convinced. I wasn’t happy when we first went through it,” he said, referring to India’s series in Sri Lanka in 2008.

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