6 times India used DRS to perfection

India and DRS - the Decision Review System - go back a long way and have shared a love-hate relationship. Having been at the receiving end of some blasphemous umpiring calls in the Test against Australia in Sydney in 2008, India were one of the first few advocates of getting in a review system which could ensure such howlers were corrected and the right decision was made.

DRS was implemented for the first time during the series between Sri Lanka and India and what followed changed India's mind for a long time. India failed to get used to the new system and had just one successful review out of their attempted 20. It put DRS out of India's priority list but with time, the technology got better and after several trials, India got along with it and have had their fair share of successful review stories to share with the rest of the world.

Let's look at the instance in all forms of the game when India used the DRS system to perfection thanks to some brave calls, some sharp eyes and good awareness.

#1 Sachin Tendulkar, India vs Pakistan, 2011 World Cup

In what was one of the most high-profile games in the decade, the build up to the 2011 World Cup semifinal at Mohali had things heating up between the two arch-rivals India and Pakistan. Virender Sehwag gave India another blazing start but couldn't kick on and when spin was introduced, India held their breath since Saeed Ajmal was at his best then and had troubled many good players of spin bowling.

A fast offspinner from Ajmal caught the Master Blaster in his crease, trapping him in front of the stumps. The entire Pakistan team appealed as they knew it was a huge wicket. The on-field umpire Ian Gould upheld the appeal only for Sachin Tendulkar to opt for the review. It was the projection from Hawk-Eye which showed that the ball was missing leg stump by a minute distance. India's favorite son played a vital knock which set up the win and the nation suddenly fell in love with DRS!

#2 Virat Kohli, India vs Bangladesh, 2017

Virat Kohli reviewed successfully against Bangladesh in 2017

Virat Kohli might not have had the best of DRS calls during his tenure as a Test skipper but against Bangladesh he got it spot on. In the one-off Test against Bangladesh in 2017 at Hyderabad, India were on the cusp of a huge win having set a target of 459 for the visitors. India were only a wicket away when Taskin Ahmed failed to flick one and there was a huge appeal since the ball was collected as well. The soft signal for the catch was out but replays showed that there was no bat.

Virat Kohli though cooly opted for a review for an lbw decision which was not referred and three reds on the Hawk-Eye meant India had got the final wicket, beating Bangladesh by a massive margin of 208 runs.

#3 MS Dhoni, India vs England, 2017

MS Dhoni was so sure that he opted for the review without even consulting his skipper once

After MS Dhoni resigned from the captaincy of India's limited-overs side, he has often been seen guiding Virat Kohli for reviews. Having been captain for a long time, Dhoni once forgot that he was no longer the captain and called for the review himself much to the amusement of the rest of the team.

It was against England in a game at Pune when the incident happened. The pair of Joe Root and Eoin Morgan were going steadily with England 157 for 2 when the skipper Morgan tried to run one down to third man off the bowling of Hardik Pandya. Nobody heard the faint edge except Dhoni who went for the review immediately after the umpire turned down the appeal. In what was Virat Kohli's first review as a full-time ODI captain, it was once again MS Dhoni who showed how sharp a player he was.

#4 MS Dhoni and Virat Kohli, India vs West Indies, 2017

CRICKET-TRI-WIS-IND

India were playing a bilateral ODI series in West Indies after a span of six years and with the first ODI washed out due to rain, India came out all guns blazing in the second, posting a massive 310 on the board in a 43-overs per side game. West Indies had little chance against a good bowling attack but Shai Hope led them well.

Kuldeep Yadav was debuting and he lured Hope into playing his favorite shot, a sweep, only to trap him right in front of the stumps. The Indians appealed but the umpire didn't budge. MS Dhoni convinced Virat Kohli to go for the review and Kuldeep was rewarded with his second ODI wicket thanks to India's former skipper.

#5 MS Dhoni, India vs Sri Lanka, 2017

Shardul Thakur had Niroshan Dickwella caught down the leg side for his maiden ODI wicket

Shardul Thakur had been on the fringes of selection to the Indian team for some time and he got his chance against Sri Lanka in 2017 after India had blanked the hosts in the longest format of the game. India posted a tall score on the board with MS Dhoni chipping in with an unbeaten 49 and the pressure was firmly on the hosts.

India have always had trouble dismissing aggressive left-handed Sri Lankan openers and Niroshan Dickwella was no different. Thakur on his debut tried to cramp the southpaw with one on his body only for Dickwella to glove it to the keeper. The umpire didn't hear anything, but MS Dhoni was alert as ever behind the wickets and gestured to Kohli to go for the review and Thakur opened his account in ODIs thanks to a review.

#6 Dinesh Karthik, India vs Afghanistan, one-off Test, 2018

Dinesh Karthik was called back to the Test side after an injury to Wriddhiman Saha

The 12th nation to play Test cricket, Afghanistan had a Test to forget. They first allowed India to pile up 474 runs on the board before shooting them out for a meager 103 in their first innings with the bat. India thrive on their ruthlessness at home and asked Afghanistan to follow-on who were in troubled waters at 22 for 2 when Umesh Yadav bowled an in-ducker to Mohammad Nabi who failed to clip it through.

The Indians appealed but the umpire, like most of the spectators, thought that it was going down leg and hence turned it down but Dinesh Karthik thought otherwise. He was sure about the ball hitting the stumps and convinced skipper Ajinkya Rahane to go for the review. What followed surprised everyone as Hawk-Eye showed the ball to be hitting the leg stump and India were duly rewarded with a wicket. Poor Dinesh Karthik will have to be content with his call as the scorecards wouldn't give him the credit for the brave call.