For the BCCI, DRS is like an Alfred Hitchcock movie says Karsan Ghavri

05 March, 2013

In the just-concluded Hyderabad Test match, there was much discussion about umpiring decisions and the formal absence of the Decision Review System (DRS). Karsan Ghavri, a former cricketer, commenting on this development, told this citizen journalist that the BCCI should make full use of the technology that is available. He said, 'I do not know what is in the mind of the BCCI. It is a big question like the Alfred Hitchcock movie.'

It is a known fact that the DRS has never been accepted by the Board of Control for Cricket in India (BCCI). So it is never used in a bilateral series, where both the countries playing need a nod for its approval. But in the recent Test match in Hyderabad featuring India and Australia, one of the on-field umpires, Marius Erasmus, in an unfamiliar way approached the third umpire to come to a decision when the Australians on the field appealed for a caught behind down the leg side when Sachin Tendulkar was batting.

When such decisions are referred to the third umpire, the TV umpire looks into all aspects, and gives the decision. Hence, Tendulkar was given out after the third umpire and Erasmus spoke over in their walkie-talkies.

No way can we say that Erasmus was wrong in discussing about it with the TV umpire. He was well within his rights to do so and come out with the right decision. Or, simply, Erasmus found a way to make the right decision without 'officially' using the DRS. So is it not better that the BCCI agrees to having DRS in play when it is being used in an unofficial manner? It would not be surprising, if other countries follow suit.

Ghavri feels that the BCCI should make full use of the technology that is available. He told this citizen journalist , “To be very honest, electronic things (technology) gives us a clearer picture and better quality. Once such things are made available, it has to be used. The BCCI has to agree with the proposal of the DRS. They should take the DRS. It works for both the playing teams.” BCCI has been defending their non-approval stating that it has to be 100 percent error-free and the richest cricket body in the world also does not trust the DRS technology fully. Ghavri does not agree with BCCI and says, “Nothing in life is 100 percent.

It is only the BCCI that has been rejecting the DRS, whereas other countries have been accepting the system with open arms. The use of technology has yielded better results and has received a thumbs up from several quarters apart from men who matter in the BCCI. “All cricket nations have agreed with the use of DRS, why not BCCI? They are like any other cricket boards from around the world. The technology is used for the betterment of judgment and result. Why not make use of it?

In the initial stages when DRS had come into being the BCCI also thought that the system was an expensive one, as the cost of having a DRS in a Test match would around $60,000. To this Ghavri replies, “Don't tell me, $60,000 is expensive for the BCCI, when other cricket bodies can afford it,” added Ghavri. BCCI is the richest cricket body in the world, whose earnings run into crores. He still fails to understand why the BCCI does not accept the DRS.

But former Indian cricketer Lalchand Rajput, and now a well known coach, said, “The use of technology is always better, but it needs to make fool-proof, especially LBW, decisions.” Rajput feels that it may be the LBW decisions with which the BCCI also does not agree. There is some logical explanation to it as well - the bounce changes in the pitch, and does not stay true for the entire duration of the Test match. In this logic, it would not be fair to adjudge a batsmen out or not out.

There are many positives that one can achieve from the DRS, in fact, there are very few negatives. The DRS helps in reducing umpiring errors, which is very important. A small umpiring error by an umpire can be a reason for one's defeat and one's loss. The BCCI would be praying that India never loses an important game due to an umpiring error, where the DRS had been rejected by India.