Five ways of improving the Decision Review System

The Decision Review System (DRS) recently turned six years old, after having been introduced in the Test series between Sri Lanka and India in July 2008. Ever since its initiation, it has been a hugely contentious issue with the working of the system not being everyone’s cup of tea. The Indian players in particular have been fierce critics of the system and have insisted on not using the DRS whenever involved.Players from England, Australia and South Africa, on the other hand, have welcomed the use of the system, as they believe it does help in getting rid of the genuine howlers. This has led to a farcical situation where some Test series involve the use of the DRS, while others, most involving India, don’t. To be fair to the system, the stats do suggest an improvement in decision making from approximately 93% earlier to 97% now.

#1 Give authority to third umpire

One of the most despised aspects of the DRS is the fact that players are allowed to challenge the authority of the on-field umpires; the old adage of the umpire’s decision being final holds true no more. One way of correcting this would be to give the authority of reviewing decisions to the third umpire. If the third umpire feels that there has been a glaring error made, he can have a look at the video footage available to him and overturn the decision.

15% off on Indian cricket team jerseys

#2 One review per team

If the ICC feels that the reviews being given to the third umpire will not work and let it remain with the players, what they should look to be doing is to reduce the number of reviews available to a team to one. In Test cricket, currently, a team is allowed a maximum of two reviews and they are topped up to two once again at the completion of 80 overs in an innings. This has defeated the original purpose of the system, which was eradicating howlers. It has led to teams challenging the umpires on a tactical basis, which is unwarranted. The reduction to one review per team will, perhaps, force the teams to use the system only when absolutely necessary.

15% off on Indian cricket team jerseys

#3 Retention of review when it is umpire\'s call

The system is designed in such a manner that the on-field umpires get the benefit of doubt. For example, when the captain calls for an lbw review, the ball needs to be pitching in line and hit any of the 3 stumps clearly for the decision to go in the fielding team’s favour. If not, the original decision of the umpire will stay. While that is perfectly alright, what is not is the fact that the fielding team, harshly in my opinion, loses their review. When a decision is marginal, the team that had opted for a review shouldn’t be made to lose theirs.

15% off on Indian cricket team jerseys

#4 Replace Hawk Eye with Eagle Eye

One of the main problems with the DRS has been the predictive path of the ball as shown by Hawk Eye while adjudging lbw decisions. The BCCI, in fact, has constantly communicated to the ICC that one of the principal reasons for its opposition of the DRS is its lack of trust in Hawk Eye. The Hawk Eye inventor has himself admitted to the fallibility of the technology on numerous occasions.

In such a scenario, the ICC should be willing to give Hawk Eye’s rival, Eagle-Eye, a chance to prove itself. It has been used in Australia in recent years and has shown itself to be more dependable.

15% off on Indian cricket team jerseys

#5 ICC should bear the costs of DRS

It is well known that technologies like Hawk Eye and Hot Spot, which make up the DRS, are really expensive. At the moment, the burden of bearing the costs of these technologies is with the broadcasters of the series in concern. This has led to inconsistency in the number of features that get used in a series, with some broadcasters not willing to pay for Hot Spot, for example.

The only solution to this problem is that the ICC should take up the cost burden rather than leaving it at the hands of the service providers. This would ease the financial burden and also improve the consistency.

15% off on Indian cricket team jerseys