New Delhi, May 12 (IANS): The decision by an International Cricket Council (ICC) committee to recommend Umpires Decision Review System (UDRS) for all Test matches hasn't gone down well with the Indian cricket board, which has been consistently opposing the move.
The UDRS has been used in Test cricket since 2009 in 31 Tests. It was tried for the first time in a Test series in 2008 between India and Sri Lanka but a string of controversial decisions prompted the Board of Control for Cricket in India (BCCI) to oppose it.
BCCI secretary Narayanswamy Srinivasan told IANS that the board will strongly oppose the recommendation when it comes up for ratification at the ICC Executive Board.
"The cricket committee is just a sub-committee and it can only make recommendations, it is for the executive board to ratify them or not. We will oppose it at the Executive Board because the URDS in its present form is unacceptable to us," said Srinivasan.
The Indian cricket board has been strongly opposing the UDRS saying it is not foolproof. Both ICC and the BCCI were also involved in a war of words on the UDRS during the World Cup.
During the World Cup, India captain Mahendra Singh Dhoni had termed UDRS "adulteration of technology with human thinking". Dhoni's comments came after England batsman Ian Bell survived an lbw and was declared not out because the distance between the wicket and point of impact was more than 2.5 metres.
It sparked a debate and ICC general manager (Cricket) Dave Richardson, a former South African wicketkeeper, publicly backed the system.
The BCCI, however, stood by the captain and Srinivasan in a strongly worded letter to the ICC had said "the inadequacy of the UDRS has been exposed in this edition of the World Cup. The group stage match between India and England was a case in point which clearly brought out the inadequacy of the system".
The ICC, however, maintained that the UDRS does help umpires in making correct decisions.
"The committee's recommendation that the UDRS should be used in all formats of the game confirms two key conclusions that came from our discussions: it shows the group's confidence in the system and it also highlights the committee's view that it does aid the umpires in making correct decisions," said Clive Lloyd, chairman of the ICC's cricket committee.
The committee's recommendations will not take effect until ratified by the Chief Executive Committee (CEC) and the Board, both of which are scheduled to meet in Hong Kong from June 26 to 30.
The other recommendations were that teams should be allowed to take the batting and bowling Powerplay between 16 to 40 overs. The committee also suggested that trials of different playing conditions be conducted in domestic cricket before being considered for international cricket. The trials include removal of the restriction on the maximum number of overs each bowler could deliver, no compulsory close-catchers, a maximum of four fielders outside the 30-yard fielding circle during non-Powerplay overs and the number of bouncers that can be delivered per over to be increased from one to two.
The committee also suggested that a captain should be suspended for one match if his side is found guilty of two minor over-rate offences in the same format over a 12-month period.
The committee also concluded that the pink ball is likely to be the most effective ball for potential use in day-night Test cricket.