Why are the bails there? Sanjay Manjrekar questions the point of archaic rules in cricket

David Warner was adjudged not out against Yuzvendra Chahal despite the ball clipping his stumps during Delhi Capitals vs Rajasthan Royals in the IPL. While the lights in the LED stumps switched on, the bails stayed at its place.

Australian opener David Warner lived a charmed life against Rajasthan Royals on Wednesday, 11 May evening in the Indian Premier League. Warner got dropped several times in the outfield en route his half century, which took his tally of runs over 400 in this edition of the league.

Helpless Rajasthan Royals could not believe their luck on the night and were left frustrated with how their game was going, trying to defend 161 runs in a crucial game in the final days of the group stage. The worst was yet to come as a Yuzvendra Chahal delivery spun sharply to clip Warner's leg stump; the lights lit up on the LED stump, but the bails did not come off, prompting the umpire to judge that Warner was not out.

Speaking about the incident, former Indian cricketer Sanjay Manjrekar said that the idea of bails have to be dislodged to get the batsman out was a redundant idea with the advent of technology.

"I've said this before as well, it's redundant now with the LED stumps to have the bails on," Manjrekar said on ESPNcricinfo's T20 Time: Out.

"Today it would've been a wicket deserving for Chahal who bowled superbly. It was a terrible shot from Warner, and it didn't get a wicket. Unless it's adding an aesthetic value, they should just get rid of the bails because they're completely redundant with LED technology."

The pundit argued that what's the point of having bails, now that sophisticated technology was available to know if the ball had clipped the stumps or not.

"[The bails were used] just to be sure the ball has hit the stumps they had these bails on top, because if the ball just kissed the stumps you won't know if there weren't any bails," Manjrekar said. "And the bails were meant to fall off if the stumps were disturbed. But now that you have a sensor, you know the ball has hit the stumps, so why are the bails there?"