Positions in table should decide World Cup winners in case of tied final, suggests Ian Chappell

Former Australian captain Ian Chappell suggested an alternative solution to the ICC's controversial boundaries rule that decided the tied final of the 2019 World Cup.

Former Australia captain Ian Chappell called for a balance between the bat and the ball.

Former Australia captain Ian Chappell believes the position of the teams after the league stage should be considered to decide the winner in case a World Cup final ends in a tie.

England were adjudged 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.

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,” Chappell wrote in his column in ESPNcricinfo .

“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.”

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The Decision Review System (DRS) also drew a lot of flak following a number of wrong decisions during the World Cup, and Chappell felt it 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 than the television company that’s providing the coverage, would be in total charge of the technology,” he wrote.

“That way every series would be played utilising the exact same technology, and therefore, under the same set of laws.”

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Giving a thorough review of the World Cup, Chappell said the ICC needs to take some tough decisions on the width of bats and dimension of the field to ensure the balance between bat and ball is maintained.

“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.”