India stick to stand on DRS

Slew of poor decisions fails to erase mistrust of technology

Umpire Daryl Harper’s debatable decisions in the first Test against the West Indies have once again given life to the topic, with many urging India to go the DRS way, but the Indian think-tank is firm on it sstand against the system.

“I know people will use this match as an example and say that India should agree for DRS, but we are firm in our stand against the DRS. Why not we have better trained umpires than have a technology about which you are not sure? It’s something like employing a guard at your home who says he will do the duty in the afternoon, but go home at night,” a member of the think-tank said.

His views came after Harper, recently removed from the Elite Panel of umpires, made some contentious decisions in a Test India won by 63 runs. The Australian, who will officiate in the third Test at Dominica, gave Suresh Raina out caught at leg-slip by Darren Sammy off Devendra Bishoo in India’s second innings when the ball seemed to have made no contact with either bat or gloves.

Harbhajan too was at the receiving end in the same innings when Harper adjudged him leg before to Sammy when replays showed the ball was comfortably sailing over the stumps. Skipper Mahendra Singh Dhoni was caught at covers by Fidel Edwards off Bishoo, but the replays showed that the leggie’s back foot had cut the side crease, but there wasn’t call for a no-ball from umpire Harper. At the same time, confident appeals for lbw and caught behind were turned down against Shivnarine Chanderpaul and Darren Bravo.

So, is there a case to accept the DRS? But the person who is a part of the decision-making process believes an incomplete DRS will only complicate matters. “Our stand is clear that we are still unsure of the ball-tracking technology and we think there is scope of manipulation, especially when it comes to tracking the bounce of the ball. In the World Cup they had implemented the DRS, but without snicko and hot spot, the system was basically deaf and dumb,” he said.

Recently, the Board of Control for Cricket in India too expressed its non-acceptance of the DRS and the ball-tracking technology. “If you look at it, more wrong decisions are made against us, while other high-profile series like the Ashes see fewer mistakes. It’s not just a recent phenomenon, but in the past too we were at the receiving end on many occasions, like Tendulkar getting adjudged leg before after the ball hit his shoulder while ducking under a Glenn McGrath bouncer in 1999.

“We also have seen how we had to cope with a series of howlers in the 2008 series against Australia. It’s almost seems that someone wants to force us to use the DRS by using the incidents like what happened with Harbhajan and Raina during the first Test here,” he said.