It was quite intriguing to see former Australian skippers Michael Clarke and Mark Taylor questioning the efficiency of the Decision Review System only after one game, despite all these years of being a fan of it.
When the BCCI questioned the same effectiveness way back in 2008, after a Sri Lankan tour, global commentators and pundits lashed out against India for being overly conservative.
Many felt India rejected the DRS only to have an unfair advantage on home soil, where decisions are often tricky for the umpires, with the ball turning square.
India again found the DRS quite absurd in the Champions Trophy in 2009, when MS Dhoni was adjudged LBW by Simon Taufel in a game against South Africa. According to a peculiar rule, a batsman would be given not out if he was found to be at least 2.5 metres away from the stumps. In Dhoni’s case, replays showed he was four metres away from the stumps and yet he was adjudged out.
Another headline that drew a lot of criticism was the Ian Bell not out-controversy in the 2011 World Cup. The trajectory of the ball showed it would have hit middle and off stump, yet on the implementation of that peculiar rule, Bell was reprieved. He was struck 2.5 meters from the stumps, and from that distance, the technology was deemed less accurate, so the on-field umpire was allowed to retain his decision of not out.
That was not the last time, however, that India suffered from the DRS.
In the English summer of 2011, Rahul Dravid was given out despite inconclusive evidence of the Hot Spot technology, perhaps the worst facet of the DRS.
Yet when India complained about these flaws in the technology, pundits and even the company that provides this technology to ICC retorted, saying the DRS was 95% accurate.
However, everything changed the moment Steve Smith got dismissed by Keshav Maharaj in Perth. While Smith was down the pitch, the trajectory showed it would hit the stumps. Moreover, Aleem Dar got to retain his original decision of not out since the ball was clipping the stumps.
To make matters worse for the Aussie camp, under-fire Mitchell Marsh had a decision overturned against him since the trajectory of the ball showed an unprecedented deviation after pitching on a full length.
Now that India has brought the DRS for a home series trial, the Aussies are roaring to the world to make it clear that the DRS needs modifications and fine-tunings.
It was clear from the outset that, in my mind, Hot Spot is an absolute waste of time.
To add to that, the idea of more than 50 per cent of the ball hitting the stumps to overturn a decision is quite absurd. There is still no clarity and the ICC should definitely intervene to make the system and the rules glitch-free and understandable.
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