The controversial Decision Review System will not be used in the five-match ODI series between India and England.
The controversial Decision Review System (DRS) will not be used in the five-match ODI series between India and England. The Board of Control for Cricket in India (BCCI) is reluctant to use the system. England, who arrived in Hyderabad on Tuesday, are not aware of this development yet. Skipper Alastair Cook will be officially informed about the same when he and counterpart MS Dhoni meet the match referee before the first ODI on October 14.
According to reliable sources, a consignment of infra-red cameras — mandatory for HotSpot technology — is not arriving in India. It is still not known as to who cancelled the order but a message has gone to the makers of the technology. None of the BCCI officials, of course, was willing to come on record.
Two reasons are being cited for the cancellation. The first and obvious one is that the BCCI has lost faith in the reliability of HotSpot after Team India’s recent experience in England. Many a marginal decision had gone against the Indian batsmen, especially Rahul Dravid. The other reason is that the HotSpot owners are believed to have put some “bizarre” conditions to ferry the cameras to India. DNA has learnt that they had set “conditions” with regard to handling of the equipment. This piece of information, however, could not be independently confirmed as HotSpot inventor Warren Brennan could not be contacted.
BCCI president N Srinivasan, too, could not be reached for comment but he had made it clear that the BCCI is not in favour of the technology. “We were extremely reluctant to implement DRS and had no belief in the ball-tracking system. The BCCI is not averse to technology and agreed to a minimum usage of DRS including HotSpot at the last ICC meeting in Hong Kong. We were under the impression that HotSpot was very good. It is not necessary for me to dwell on the accuracy of the technology.
“It was there for everybody to see. We need to take it to the ICC executive board and we will try to ensure that it is not used,” Srinivasan had recently said. A decision on the issue is expected at the ICC’s executive board meeting in Dubai on October 9. Srinivasan will attend that meeting.
It will be the first executive board meeting for the new BCCI president. How he handles the issue will be a matter of intense interest and curiosity as most international players seem to favour the technology. All eyes will be on the outcome of that meeting.
The ICC, in the meantime, has appointed umpires for the DRS system. Simon Taufel and Billy Bowden are the men in charge of handling the review system for the India-England series. “Minimum standard will be used in the series between India and England as we stand,” an ICC spokesman said.
Meanwhile, a spokesman for the England team said they are not aware of the situation. “We are yet to clarify these things. Hopefully we will know when we meet the match referee. The situation is still unclear,” the spokesman said from Hyderabad.
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