India captain MS Dhoni still not convinced by DRS

Omnisports

January 12, 2016 1:44 AM

India ODI captain MS Dhoni said the emphasis should be the on-field umpires to make the decision rather than rely on the DRS.

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MS Dhoni is still "not convinced" about the merits of the Decision Review System (DRS) even though George Bailey had a lucky escape before scoring a century in Australia's one-day international victory at the WACA on Tuesday.

Bailey should have been out first ball when he gloved a delivery from debutant Barinder Sran through to wicketkeeper Dhoni down the leg side, but umpire Richard Kettleborough's verdict was not out.

The Australia batsman went on to make 112 and Steve Smith scored a magnificent 149 as Australia started the five-match series with a five-wicket victory in Perth despite Rohit Sharma's outstanding 171 not out in the tourists' total of 309-3.

It could have been a very different story if the Board of Control for Cricket in India (BBCI) gave the green light for the DRS to be used and Bailey said after the game "we're not the team that doesn't want it".

When asked if Bailey's let-off changed the course of the match, India ODI captain Dhoni said: "It could have, but at the same time we need to push the umpires to take the right decision.

"You have to see how many 50-50 decisions don't go in our favour. If it always happens, then you have to take it. But I'm still not convinced about DRS."

Questioned if 50-50 calls are not given in favour of India by on-field umpires due to the BCCI's refusal to accept the DRS, Dhoni added: "I may agree with you, I may agree with you."

The 34-year-old believes flaws in the DRS still need to be ironed out before he is convinced that it is reliable.

"There are quite a few deviations [with the DRS] and even the makers agree that there is a bit of deviation that can happen," he said.

"Now you have to also take in to account whether it was given not out or out. If it's given out, the ball needs to touch the stumps [and] if it's not out then half the ball needs to hit the stump and all of that. That itself makes the variables too big. In cricket, every ... millimetre really matters.

"The DRS shouldn't be the umpire's decision justification system; it should be giving the right decision.

"In tennis, you don't have anything that says 'okay, the umpire has given it out, half the ball has to pitch inside the line and if he's given it not out the scenario is different'.

"It has to be plain and simple. You don't have to keep too many things in consideration.

"You either say DRS ... it doesn't matter whether it's given out or not out [by the on-field umpire]. Half the ball has hit the stumps so you are out, irrespective of the decision. That makes it a lot simpler.

"Now, for example, you take DRS and in an LBW decision what really changes everything is whether the decision was given in favour or not [on the field].

"And it can be a margin of an inch overall and in cricket that's very big."

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