Unfazed by the criticism it has drawn for opposing the Decision Review System, the Indian Cricket Board today stuck to its stand that it does not consider DRS reliable in its present form.
The BCCI, which has opposed DRS since its very inception, has been facing flak from several countries for refusing to use the technology in Test matches. Recently English players such as James Anderson, Graeme Swann and Chris Tremlett criticised BCCI for rejecting it for next month’s Test series.
In fact, Swann went on to suggest that India was intimidated by the prospect of losing out on close calls due to DRS but the Indian Board seemed least concerned.
“The DRS, and the BCCI’s stance on the same, has been the subject of several media reports over the past few days,” the BCCI said in a statement.
“The BCCI would like to reiterate that it does not accept the reliability of the ball-tracking technology, which is an integral part of the DRS. BCCI’s position, has been consistent,” it added.
Earlier, senior Indian batsman Sachin Tendulkar had stated that he was not against the system as such but would want it to be more consistent by incorporating Hot Spot and snickometer for close LBW and caught-behind decisions.
“I am not against DRS, but I feel it will be more effective with the support of the Snickometer and Hot Spot technology. This will give more consistent results,” Tendulkar had said.
However, neither Hot Spot nor the Snickometer, is part of the ICC’s list of minimum technology requirements for the DRS.
BCCI president Shashank Manohar added, “I have even told the ICC that we have no problem with Hot Spot. Our objection is to ball tracking. It becomes just a case of someone else’s imagination versus the umpire’s imagination.”
Australia and England are among the cricket boards which are backing the DRS.
