Team India would be rueing their luck in the 3rd Test at Southampton especially the debutant, Pankaj Singh.
Team India would be rueing their luck in the 3rd Test at Southampton especially the debutant, Pankaj Singh.
After missing a chance to send back Alastair Cook in the morning session, the Rajasthan bowler seemed to catch Ian Bell plumb on the crease but the umpire did not raise his finger.
Replays suggested that Bell was caught on middle stump but that’s where we forget that India has not chosen the DRS system.
Well if MS Dhoni and BCCI needed a ‘reminder’ onto why DRS is so important; in the 2nd Test at Lord’s, Ajinkya Rahane was given out despite the ball his arm guard. Now that was a howler! Despite the fact that, DRS is on the plate and seemingly fool-proof (sort off) Team India and BCCI are strictly against the technological usage.
In this world of iPhones and Robots, Team India seems to enjoy the cricket of the 20th century. This is what the Indian skipper had said back in 2011 during the Australia series, “I still put my money on the umpires because they have been doing the job. It is just that the pressure on them is growing with plenty of technology around. We feel the technology is not 100% accurate. At times you see an edge on Hot Spot, sometimes you don’t see anything happening. Before the start of the England series I was a big fan of Hot Spot. The way things went in England I don’t have the same kind of confidence. If it is not 100% I will still go with the umpires. This is a game in which people commit mistakes. If the bowler doesn’t commit a mistake the batsman can’t get runs. If the batsman doesn’t commit a mistake the bowler doesn’t get a wicket. So we’ll make umpires too a part of it.”
Well, even with the FIFA World Cup and most importantly, the Barclays Premier League has started using the ‘Goal Line Technology’ to review their decisions about the controversial goals.
The year 2008 saw the debut of the DRS technology where Team India played Sri Lanka and due to the unknown usage of the system, India went onto lose the series 2-1 and since then, boycotted the DRS system during their Test matches. Few years later, Dhoni had more reservations about system Dhoni when England and India played at Bangalore in the 2011 World Cup and Ian Bell was let alone by the umpires when the replays showed that the batsman was advancing more than 2.5 metres down the wicket during a referred lbw appeal.
Well, one can only feel for the debutant Pankaj Singh who deserved a wicket or two on his debut at the Rose Bowl.
It’s about time, Team India and especially the BCCI, broke their shackles of ignorance and adapted to technology in cricket. Even with N. Srinivasan as the ICC chief, there could be some reprieve for Dhoni and co. in changing their minds over DRS.
