DRS needs to be scrapped

If we learnt nothing else in the second test in Bengaluru, is that the Decision Review System (DRS) is broken and needs to be scrapped.

Instead video referrals should be used as an umpiring tool in the same way that it is used for run outs, stumpings and catches.

Twice on the final morning of the match the use of DRS, along with some poor umpiring decisions, effectively took any chance Australia had of winning the match away.

First David Warner was given out on a ball that on review was deemed to be just hitting the pad on off stump and the ball clipping the off stump.

On closer review the ball hit Warner’s pad outside the projection of where the stumps were.

It was not out.

Subsequently Shaun Marsh did not refer an LBW howler which was missing the stumps by at least a foot. No doubt part of his thinking in not reviewing was that they only had one left because of the Warner decision.

After that Australia fell apart, including a brain fade by Steve Smith what he looked for help from the dressing room on a referral, which is against the rules and will no doubt land him with a penalty of some kind.

It now appears that he was doing this on advice from Peter Handscomb, who claims to be unaware of the rule .

However Indian captain Virat Kohli claims Australia looked to the dressing room three times during the match, which is a serious allegation of systematic cheating.

Time after time since it’s inception the DRS has failed to do what is prime objective was, to remove the howler decision in a game that is very difficult to umpire.

No greater example of this was in the 2013 Ashes when Stuart Broad was caught, given not out but then derision could not be referred as Australia had used both of them already. This turned a tight match.

In the two matches played in this series to date,  we have seen reviews by both teams burned by desperate batsman, only for teammates to be given out later on when they were not out, with no course of getting the right decision.

The DRS was never supposed to be used strategically in the game. The use of video technology is surely aimed at getting the right decision, whatever that is.

The ICC needs to take action quickly, scrap the DRS and give the use of video technology to the umpires to use when they aren’t sure like they do for run outs.

At the time the third umpire was introduced for run outs and stumpings there was much debate, but now 30 years later it’s just an accepted part of umpiring the game.

Giving the video reviews to the umpires will also take away a possible cause of friction between the teams, as we are currently seeing between Kohli and the Australians.

No other team sport with video review makes its players decide on the challenge. Coaches and the match officials should be in charge of this.

The real shame in all this is that it has taken the shine off what was a great match and has been a wonderful series between two fairly evenly matched teams.