Sachin Tendulkar reveals why India didn’t embrace DRS initially

The Indian cricket team seemed to have differing opinions on the Decision Review System (DRS) and former cricketer Sachin Tendulkar expressed his displeasure of the same to the BCCI, according to a YouTube interview with Aakash Chopra.

The system is used to assist the umpires and sports officials with their decision-making, mostly to check and verify the lbw (leg before wicket) decisions. Although India was the first team to use the DRS, in 2008 during a Test series in Sri Lanka, many Indian players were against the idea.

When asked what happened with the DRS, Sachin said, “When we went to Sri Lanka in 2008, it used to be called UDRS (Umpire Decision Review System). Anil was captain at that time; he had played for India for 17-18 years by then. Rahul was there, Sourav was there, Laxman was there, I was there... Zaheer, Harbhajan... you name all these players who were around for 10-15 years or even more.”

He added that 15 decisions were referred to the third umpire, but only one decision was awarded. “So, either we didn’t know how to refer or there was something wrong with that system,” the cricket star said.

“That’s why we expressed displeasure to the BCCI.”

Sachin went on to explain the way a ball pitches, it has to pitch inside the line. “But when the ball hits the stumps, it need not be at the centre point. It could be the centre point, it could be the left side, ride side or even the bottom of the ball. When it hits the stumps, it hits from four different directions, except the top part. So whether it is hitting, 50 per cent, 49 per cent or 51 per cent, it should be out,” he said.

Aakash Chopra chipped in saying that it provides the umpire protection, and Sachin said, “Why do players go to the third umpire? Because somebody is unhappy with the on-field decision. If a new cricket spectator is watching, he would only think that ‘the on-field umpire is giving a decision and the ball is hitting the stumps on both occasions. Why is it one in the first instance out but not out at a later stage?’”

He justified his stance with examples from recent England vs West Indies series, saying that a number of elements, from ball pitch to its trajectory, are factors to be considered.