The Indian cricket team has given thumbs up to the DRS in its revised form which makes the ball-tracker skill optional in two-pronged series.It's so good that the tracker system has been done away with. It was the tracker system which was the bone of argument for us,said a senior associate of the side after the team put into practice on Monday.
In the ICC Executive Committee meeting in Hong Kong, the usage of UDRS was made mandatory for both Tests and one-dayers across all countries. However, the decision was made with a rider: the ball tracker system -- a technology which events the progress of a release after it leaves the hand of a bowler -- is not obligatory.
It entail that if a country disagrees, the UDRS will be used without the tracker skill in a bilateral series. Thus the UDRS system without the tracker skill will be used in India-England series start next month. The present series between India and the West Indies is being play devoid of the UDRS system.
The cricketer explains why the Indian team and BCCI were resistant to the follower system of the UDRS.The tracker system has an intrinsic flaw. First, the cameras are not exactly in a straight line behind the umpire.
Two, the stature of delivery after diving can never be accurately measured by technology.Strong wind, change of pace, the rough bounce can all cause major dissimilarity to the height of a delivery when it reaches stumps.And, by the way, what's the assurance that a producer check the path system hasn't fiddled with the system on his own?questioned the cricketer.
The cricketer quotes Sachin Tendulkar's dismissal at Mohali in the World Cup semi-finals against Pakistan previous this month as an instance of how the system can go wrong. Tendulkar was first ruled out leg-before-wicket to Saeed Ajmal but when the batsman asked for an appraisal, the UDRS showed the release to be missing the leg-stump by the thinnest of margins.
Many who saw the repeat were not convinced that Sachin wasn't out. Even though it benefitted us, it was clear the technology was flawed. Producers who run the follower system can make an error ruling.The technology might be good but we have to remember that it's a man who operates it. And so it's back to human element. In such a situation, it was better that on-field umpire made decisions and not a technology which wasn't fool-proof.
The current alteration in the rules state that hot-spot and stump microphone will now be used to make clear judgment on nicks. A nick, or the lack of it, can now be ascertained by eye as well as ear. For example in the first Test in Jamaica, even cricket expert Ian Bishop acknowledged that Suresh Raina, Mahendra Singh Dhoni, Virat Kohli were wrongly given out and a snick meter or hot-spot could have ruled out the decisions. The UDRS in its customized form will help eliminate wrong bat-pad decisions. It will not be a help in the lbw choice because the tracker system has now been done away with.