The big thing circling around in
the cricket world these days is whether the DRS i.e. the Decision Review System
(or Dravid Removal System as some of the Indian fans call it) should be made
compulsory for all cricket matches or not. First things first, whatever the ICC
decides, it must be uniform and must be applied to all the matches. It’s just
ridiculous that you have one series played with DRS and another without DRS.
Mind you even the series which play with the DRS rules implemented are applied
in different forms. Some have Hawkeye as one of the judging criteria some have
only Hotspot! It’s really bizarre and silly that you have a game which is being
played with different rules in different continents.
Many feel that BCCI is being the
main detractor of the DRS because of the teams failing to use the DRS
effectively (as well as the controversies which occurred in England mainly with
Dravid’s dismissals). Since nowadays most administrators are more concerned
more about the commercial aspects rather than the game itself, the first thing
they must look into is how will the smaller boards like Bangladesh, Sri Lanka
be able to bear the costs for the equipment’s required for the DRS. The more
powerful boards such as BCCI, ECB or CA have enough funds to cover the costs or
have a large enough market to find a sponsor. The first thing the ICC has to do
is if the DRS has to be implemented either they find a common sponsor for all
the matches being played (the payment varying depending on the intensity of the
series) or the ICC themselves sponsor the same.
Now coming to the point of the
DRS. The first thing the ICC should clarify to everyone is the system they are
trying to implement is not going to be 100% but a system which can remove the
howlers away. The BCCI has to stop being adamant in saying that the two umpires
on the field alone can do the job. Yes they can improve their standards, but
with growing technology it would obviously be better if they are assisted. I
would really like asking N Srinivasan what if India were to face the Sydney
fiasco once again. Will they threaten to boycott the series once more?
Sanjay Manjrekar has been saying
avoid the DRS and no need to talk about it, the series will be played without
any controversy. Luckily for him after India’s tour of England, India never
faced any major umpiring mistakes. What about the low profile series like
Pakistan vs Sri Lanka? Pakistan were on the wrong side around 10 times!! Many
of them were howlers which could have been easily overturned.
Hotspot was considered to 100%
foolproof before the India England series happened. It is dependent on the
weather conditions and hence until that condition is eradicated it cannot be
used as a judging criterion for all the decisions. Hawkeye too has its flaws
which is easily demonstrated by Phil Hughes dismissal in Sri Lanka which was
later explained to be due to the difference in frame rates between the cameras
used in Sri Lanka and those in England. Forget about uniformity in using DRS
all around the world, there has to be uniformity in the equipment’s being used
as well to allow DRS to be a successful venture.
As Harsha Bhogle recently pointed
out in his article if you give the number of decisions to be made by the
players, then as a batsman you are giving priority only to the top 1-7 usually
to help themselves escape a wrong decision. What if your tail ender is winning
you a match with the bat and then gets a wrong decision? He may not get the
chance to review it!
My suggestion is to give the
decision of the review in the hands of the umpire. He can use it when he feels
there is a doubt and use the help of the television replays to make the correct
decision. No need of the hotspot, just use the replays to check if a there was
a genuine edge or not. Use hawkeye just to see where the ball has pitched and
see that the impact of the ball on pad is within the line of the stumps. The
third umpire shouldn’t take more than a minute to make his decision and if the
replays are inconclusive till then, he should make his own decision. If a third
umpire can’t make a decision in one minute after many replays it definitely
can’t be any worse than what an onfield umpire will do. Yes this is not the
most perfect system, it may cast more doubts on the umpires mind, yes the players
may feel cheated that one decision is reviewed but a similar case isn’t but
they should man up and not complain as after all cricket is a gentleman’s game
! , but what it can do is remove the howlers. It can help cricket avoid another
Sydney fiasco.
About Rohit Ramachandran Poduval
A Classical Leg Spinner, Writer and Software Engineer. Please feel free to add my Google profile to your circles. Connect with me on
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