BCCI to introduce ‘limited DRS’ in upcoming Ranji Trophy knockouts

One wrong error in judgement by an on-field umpire can turn the fate of a team as we have seen in the recently-concluded ICC Cricket World Cup 2019. Taking a leaf from the plenty of errors in the World Cup, the BCCI has decided to introduced “limited DRS” that will reduce the number of umpiring errors in the Ranji Trophy knockout matches from this season.

However, the restricted version of DRS will not comprise the Hawkeye and UltraEdge.

BCCI’s General Manager Saba Karim confirmed the development with ESPNCricinfo on Thursday. “Last year, in some of the knockout matches, there was some flak on umpires because there were some terrible howlers,” he said. (ALSO READ: ‘Awarding six runs to England was a clear mistake by Kumar Dharmasena and Marais Erasmus’)

“So, we want to avoid all that and use whatever help we can get. For the knockouts in Ranji Trophy matches, we will utilise all the technology available to us as a means to apply the limited DRS to help the on-field umpires make the correct decision.”

The decision has also received a seal of approval from the BCCI’s Committee of Administrators (CoA) in June after issue of declining umpiring standards in domestic cricket was raised at the Captains and Coaches Conclave.

One instance of questionable decision-making occurred during the last Ranji Trophy semi-final between Karnataka and Saurashtra in Bengaluru when Cheteshwar Pujara earned two lives – one in each innings – that eventually cost Karnataka a spot in the final. (ALSO READ: I have the capacity to play in the shorter format of the game: Pujara)

Karim informed that he would have a meeting with the match officials, including umpires and referees, along with the board’s broadcasting team to understand the “extent” to which the available technology can be used.

According to Karim, there are 18 to 20 cameras used for broadcasting a domestic match – both on TV or on the digital platform. These would be used to help match officials adjudicate on debatable on-field umpiring calls. “We are just trying to use it an experiment just to see how much it can be useful to domestic cricket,” Karim said.

“We will use whatever cameras we can use to come to the right decision.”