Decision Review System (DRS) has been in controversy since the time it was introduced in cricket. The system, which was supposed to make umpire’s job easy and erase human errors from the game, has always been a point of discussion and the issue once again gained momentum when BCCI refused to adopt the technology.
International Cricket Council for long has been trying to get DRS universal and to be used in both Test matches and ODIs but has not been successful because the richest and the most powerful cricketing board, the BCCI, does not want that.
In the recent Executive Board Meeting, ICC said that they cannot force India to accept the technology. ICC in the meeting wanted DRS to be mandatory but the issue was not resolved and its use will remain for the bilateral series in which both captains want to have the use of the controversial technology.
It is a fact that every country except India wants DRS to be used in the matches, but no country is ready to vote because of the huge profit that India brings to the table. Countries can’t afford for India to not tour them and that is why the DRS system is not made mandatory. It is however sad to see one cricketing powerhouse dominating the rest of the world and getting away with that.
What is the reason that BCCI oppose the use of DRS? The answer is that Indian team players do not want the technology to be implemented. Indian players have been on the receiving end on more than one occasion and there have been times where DRS has really hurt the Indian team.
It all began in 2008 when India toured Sri Lanka and along with mystery spinner Ajantha Mendis even DRS made the debut in the series. The series which India lost was dominated by Mendis, but the most talked about thing in the series was DRS. Indians really struggled to use the technology and could only manage to get one referral right from 20. Sri Lankan captain Mahela Jayawardene on the other hand made the best use of it and that left Indian players furious.
In the 2010 World Cup, India once again found themselves on the wrong side of the technology. In the match against England, Indian captain MS Dhoni reviewed a decision on which Ian Bell was hit on pads by a Yuvraj Singh delivery. Replays showed that the ball was hitting the stumps, but because Bell was too far down the pitch it went in the Englishmen’s favour. Dhoni after the match showed his disappointment with the technology.
India suffered in the England Test series where a modified DRS was used. In the series teams were not allowed to use DRS for a leg-before decision but even that changed nothing for the Indians. Rahul Dravid was the only Indian batsman who was getting runs in series and there were two instances where the DRS system ditched him.
So overall Indians have not had a good experience with the system, but DRS is the future of the game and Indian board should not be adamant about not using it. If other teams are ready to take the risk, than India should also agree to it.
By Indian Sports News Network
