World Cup final controversy: Ian Chappell opposes boundary-count rule, suggests alternative

Former Australian captain and commentator Ian Chappell broke his silence on the controversial World Cup final between England and New Zealand. He believes that in case of a tie in the finals, the position of the teams after the league stage should be considered to decide the winner. Cricket fans and experts have been discussing the final since England were crowned the winners of the 2019 World Cup on the basis of their superior boundary count 22 fours and two sixes to New Zealand's 17 after the epic final, and the ensuing Super Over ended in a tie last Sunday. Some are calling it the best World Cup final and in fact the greatest ODI in the game’s history but at the same time, the rules and the outcome of the game have been getting a lot of flak. 

ICC's decision was questioned by current and former players, including Rohit Sharma, Gautam Gambhir and Yuvraj Singh.

"The ideal way to unravel a tied final is to consider the position of the two competing teams on the table at the end of the preliminary rounds. This provides a definitive answer as the teams are placed in that order either by virtue of the number of wins or by a net run-rate tie-breaker. If the Super Over doesn't provide an outright winner then this is the least controversial way to decide a winner. England would still have won under this system, and they also comfortably defeated New Zealand in their round match," said Chappell

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The Decision Review System (DRS) also stirred a lot of controversy during the quadrennial tournament for a number of wrong decisions. Chappell believes that the DRS needs to be overhauled and umpires should be put in charge, rather than the players. 

"A thorough overhaul of the DRS should place it in the hands of the umpires and not the players. And if the ICC was really serious about fairness in the decision-making process, they, and not the television company that's providing the coverage, would be in total charge of the technology. That way every series would be played utilising the exact same technology, and therefore, under the same set of laws," believes Chappell.

Chappell also pointed out that there has to be a balance maintained between bat and ball and to achieve that a strict reform by ICC needs to take place on the width of bats and dimension of the field.

"That an even balance between bat and ball needs to be maintained as much as possible; this will require tough decisions to be taken on bats and boundaries, and an assurance that pitches provide some encouragement for the bowlers." said, former Australian captain. 

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