The present supremo of BCCI, Jagmohan Dalmiya, has made it crystal clear that the richest body in world cricket will accept the Decision Review System (DRS) only when it is completely trustworthy and free of mistakes. Incidentally, India took part in the first test series where this system was used. Since that series against Sri Lanka, India has always been against this bit of technology even going so far as to say, it will not take part in bilateral series where this technology is being used. Dalmiya, through his opinions, has basically laid down a challenge for the governing body of world cricket to come up with a fully viable solution to the DRS problem that has been attracting a lot of negative press of late.
Dalmiya has also scoffed at the capability of the ICC to come up with a completely reliable system. He has questioned whether they would be able to make the DRS a foolproof one when they have not been able to solve the problems related to the Duckworth Lewis (D/L) System in the last 15 years. He has pointed to the fact that the system is beyond the comprehension of majority of the administration and players as well as fans around the world. He has said that from a personal point of view he is trying to figure out how team totals can be increased on the basis of projections.
He has called the D/L system a complicated one as it is of now raising more questions than answers. Dalmiya also states that India is not the only country that is against the DRS as was evident at the yearly conference for 2013. Apparently, the DRS has resulted in some contentious decisions – none more so than the ongoing Ashes where Australia, the losing side, has been on the receiving end of some very poor decisions. Now, the thing is you can look at this situation from two points of view. The first viewpoint is that Dalmiya is right in demanding a foolproof technology since they have to pay for it. The ideology here is that if you are paying for it you cannot be faulted for asking for the best possible product.
The second line of thought in my humble opinion would be to have technology in the game especially the international game. If at present the countries are not willing to gamble on it then let it be used in the first class matches as well as the domestic T-20 leagues that are televised all around. This will at least help find out the flaws and let the developers come up with options to solve them. When the respective boards are satisfied then they can be used on a full scale in the home international matches and soon the system will be a part of the game before you know it. Technology is going to be an integral part of the global game a few years down the line and the sooner you accept it the better it is.
