India’s resistance to the Decision Review System has finally ended. When they first used it in 2008 in the Sri Lanka Test series, the Indians failed miserably and developed a deep sense of mistrust when it came to DRS.
Senior players like Sachin Tendulkar and Mahendra Singh Dhoni made it clear they were not happy with a system that was not 100 per cent accurate. And so the BCCI opposed its implementation and the rest of the world accepted it while the technology continued to be refined.
India didn’t like the ball tracking technology used. Their contention was that the predictive technology used was not substantially better than the assessment of the human eye and was therefore not an improvement, continuing to refuse technology while the ICC featured it in world events.
The scenario altered as soon as there was a change of guard in Indian cricket. Equations changed when Virat Kohli emerged as the future leader and looked a lot more open to the idea of greater technology in decision making.
Current India coach Anil Kumble visited the Massachusetts Institute of Technology to assess the latest developments in DRS technology, when he was head of the ICC cricket committee last year. With greater trust, it wasn’t surprising that India agreed to use DRS for the upcoming Test series against England on a trial basis.
The five Tests between India and England promise to be a riveting affair with bowlers likely to have an even greater say than has been case in recent series in India. The wickets have become increasingly tougher to bat on and with high quality bowlers on both sides, batsmen should be prepared for stump-to-stump bowling and countless appeals for lbw. For me, the transition is complete as far as Test cricket is concerned.
The last time India used DRS
— Mohandas Menon (@mohanstatsman) October 21, 2016
in July-Aug 2008 in SL (Captain: Anil Kumble)
Now in Nov-Dec 2016 in Ind (Coach: Anil Kumble) #IndvEng
The five-day game has moved ahead at a great pace over the last few years. Results are given greater credence and teams don’t waste time in setting up matches. Tests regularly finish inside four days. Batsmen score at a strike rate of over 50 and those who don’t, like India’s Cheteshwar Pujara, are told they need to hurry up. Even bowlers like Ravi Ashwin and Tim Southee have good batting techniques and the genuine tail-enders of yesteryear are an absolute rarity.
Also, we have day-night Tests played with a pink ball. There is a concerted effort to bring in the crowds and the administrators are willing to experiment with the very basics of the format, which involves a pink ball that behaves quite differently to a red one. So, almost everything has changed in the oldest format, apart from decision making.
For years, umpiring errors were seen as part of the glorious uncertainties of the game. It was said that good and bad umpiring decisions balanced out over a period of time. But teams began to lose patience as technology improved and mistakes were amplified.
So the need for greater consistency in umpiring decisions began to be felt and the decision review system was devised nearly a decade back to help officials make the correct call.
In recent years, Test cricket was being played on two levels – one in which sides used DRS and one involving India where it wasn’t. It created a curious situation with only India playing the old-fashioned way and extolling the charm of respecting the umpire’s decision.
They definitely felt the pinch when some crucial decisions went against them, most memorably against Sri Lanka in Galle last year where centurion Dinesh Chandimal, who scored a match-winning 162, was ruled not out early in his innings despite getting an edge off a sweep to short leg.
At least now, there is no room for any excuse as it as a level-playing field. The biggest positive is all teams are on the same page. Sides don’t have to make special preparations regarding appeals just because India are playing.
