FINALLY BCCI GOES ON THE BACK FOOT

Sunil K Vaidya

Sports Editor

So, the Board of Control for Cricket in India (BCCI) has finally gone on the back foot and decided to end their resistance against the Decision Review System (DRS), the technology that assists umpires in decision making during a cricket match. BCCI was the only cricketing body that has resisted the use of DRS since ICC made it optional for bilateral tours. At the same time, India were the first team to try out the new technology in 2008 during their tour of Sri Lanka.

And, the trial was not pleasant from India’s point of view. They were successful only once in their reviews while Sri Lanka succeeded 11 times while reviewing umpires’ decisions. Ironically, the first DRS victim was also Indian — opener Virender Sehwag. Rather than convincing the Indian cricketers about the benefits of the DRS, the 2008 trial sowed seeds of mistrust and an incident in 2011 World Cup at home made their resistance to accept DRS stronger.

Ian Bell was given not out even after the ball was clearly hitting the middle and off stump in a leg before the wickets (LBW) decision. Bell was ruled not out under a rule that if the batsman is 2.5 metres away from the stumps then he cannot be given LBW. Indians, however, were at the receiving end in 2009 Champions Trophy during an identical incident. Mahendra Singh Dhoni was ruled out lbw although he was about 4 metres away from the stumps. No wonder the Indians found the DRS weird and unreliable.

Since that Bell incident in 2011 World Cup, aversion of DRS for the senior Indian players, including Sachin Tendulkar and Dhoni, got even stronger. After that, there was an orchestrated BCCI campaign against the DRS and the Indian body used former Indian players during their commentary stints to talk against DRS and its flaws.

Virat Kohli was the first Indian captain to admit publicly that they need to review their stance against DRS. Ergo, as soon as BCCI announced that they will use DRS during England tour, everyone began giving credit to Kohli but forgot the new guiding force behind the new Team India under Kohli. The ‘silent person’, who probably changed BCCI thinking, is more likely to be the current Team India coach Anil Kumble, known as the silent assassin in his playing days.

Kumble has always been one of the most tech-savvy Indian cricketers, therefore, he understands the importance of DRS. He has also been on the other side of the fence when he chaired the ICC Technical committee, which was responsible for suggesting changes in DRS. Thus, he knows the positives and negatives of DRS well.

Interestingly, Kumble was captain of the Indian Test side when BCCI agreed to try DRS during the 2008 Sri Lanka tour and now he is the coach.

More importantly, Kumble, who did not turn the ball much but bowled accurate stump-to-stump line, knows how bowlers like Ravindra Jadeja would benefit with the DRS, as the left-handed all-rounder is not a big turner of the ball but dot on line and length.

Indians may have ended up on the wrong side of the DRS but during England’s tour of India, they will reap immense benefits, especially for their bowlers who bowl stump-tostump line and likely to ask for more lbw decisions. On the other hand, the Indian batsmen would do well not to put their front foot forward to everything, otherwise they would be strong candidates for lbw decisions.

Whoever influenced the BCCI decision to opt for the DRS, technology is definitely a help in spite of some flaws here and there. Embrace the change and play on.

sunilvaidya@khaleejtimes.com