India not willing to accept Umpire Decision Review System (UDRS)
The Umpire Decision Review System (USRS) is a referral system in which players in the field can ask for the referral of a particular decision of the on-field umpires to the video umpire. Third umpires, with the help of video aids, can uphold or change the decision of the field umpires.
This system was implemented in 2009 where the ICC asked all test playing nations to implement the UDRS in test matches to minimize the likelihood of inaccurate decisions by field umpires. Cricket is not the first game to experience this evolution in the field of video technology and subsequent changing in rules to minimize the human error in giving decisions. A number of sports have employed video technology which includes tennis, field hockey and rugby.
The International Cricket Council (ICC) had asked to implement the review system in all test matches from September 2009 onwards. However, the governing body could not be put into operation as there was no single system of reviewing the appeal. It is now decided that this system will be implemented by the mutual agreement between the host and touring team. Nevertheless, the problem has still not been resolved. The main hurdle for its implementation is the lack of technology which not readily available with all television broadcasters.
The UDRS will not be used in the upcoming three test match series between Sri-Lanka and India which will be played in Sri Lanka from the 18th of July to the 7th of August, 2010. According to the rule book, the UDRS will be used in that test match series with the mutual understanding between the hosts and the guest nation. In this scenario, Sri Lanka opted for the review system but the Board of Control for Cricket in India (BCCI) did not support it to be a feature of this test series.
The BCCI’s reason for not going in favour of the review system dates back to the 2008 test match series between http://www.senore.com/Cricket/India-c750 was off course not happy by their use of the review system.
Later in the 2009 test match series between Sri Lanka and India, India didn’t opt for the UDRS and won the series by 2-0. Kumar Sangakkara was not happy by the Indian decision of going against the UDRS and said that this cost his side almost 500 extra runs and lots of wickets in the series. After the 2008 test match series against Sri Lanka, India was not a part of any series that included the UDRS.
Kumar Sangakkara, after the decision by the Indian side against the DRS, said that the ICC should make it mandatory for all the test playing nations to use the review system. He also suggested that the ICC should own the system and they should also standardize this with the help of the broadcasters. Broadcasters are at times reluctant to use this as they already pay a lot for getting the TV rights and additional technologies like the hot spot usually cost them a lot more money.
http://www.senore.com/Cricket/Mahendra-Singh-Dhoni-c73820 holds a different opinion regarding this system where he has asked for better technology to be employed. He said that the DRS system was not 100 % correct and a fool proof referral technology.
The video umpire has a lot of options available to analyze the decision sent to him for review. There are lots of specially positioned cameras available to see the exact image. One camera is focused on the crease to check whether the ball was legal or not, and if found legal, it is analyzed further. For lbws, the hawk eye technology is used as a ball-tracking technology. For detecting whether the ball hit the bat in lbw decisions, a heat mark infrared image is created to check if it hit the bat before the pad or not. For caught-behinds, snick-o-meter is the right choice, which detects the slightest of noises during the time the ball passes near the bat.
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