Team India and their woes with DRS in Test cricket
D-R-S. These three words go back a long way with the Indian team. The system was first used in Test cricket way back in 2008. At the time it seemed quite obvious given that the infamous Sydney Test of 2008 between India and Australia had just happened, where the Indian team had faced serious issues with umpiring.
After that, when India went to Sri Lanka later that year, DRS was first used. In the very first Test series, it was clear that even though the players might get some calls overturned, there will be a huge chunk of them that will get wasted. Come 2021, Virat Kohli and co. have been struggling with the DRS for some time, especially in Test cricket. Interestingly enough, this is not something that is new with Kohli.
India’s poor record
Among all the Test teams, India ranks third-lowest in terms of percentage of successful review. What is more jarring is the fact that India’s bowling reviews are more of a concern than the batting ones. Since 2018, 40% of their batting reviews have been successful while when we consider the bowling review, that number drops to about 17.5%.
In the ongoing series between England and India, DRS became one of the more talking points when Kohli took two reviews on day three of the Lord’s Test which were totally bizarre. Interestingly enough, on day five, when India had to bowl out England in 60 overs, Kohli got two decisions overturned with reviews. At the post-match presentation, he said he always goes by his instinct.
Moment of the Day!
Pant trying to stop Kohli from taking the review!#RishabhPant #ViratKohli #ENGvIND #INDvENG #Cricket #Probatsmanpic.twitter.com/lBQEFTDw5F
— ProBatsman (@probatsman) August 13, 2021
Should India aim for higher accuracy?
Now, the huge question is whether India should be a bit more accurate with their DRS calls? For a start, the answer is yes. Yes, because a poorly called review can be the difference between a win and a loss. There have been so many instances where bowlers have almost pleaded to Kohli for reviews and he decided to go for them as they turned out to be not out. It is unfair to blame Kohli for some of these reviews but as a captain, it should be his responsibility to not get carried away with the reaction of the bowler.
But is this something to really fuss about? Well, to answer that, let us discuss why DRS was introduced in the first place. It was for the howlers by the umpires. Yes, India have taken some stupid reviews so far, but they have got some right. Some calls which were potential howlers were being called, reviewed and successfully overturned in India’s favour. And the quality of umpiring at the international level has been top class in recent times. So, the chances of overturning decisions on a regular basis are pretty low.
In all honesty, the DRS calling by India has been poor but it is supposed to be poor. We can’t expect that an international team will get more than 50% of decisions being overturned. Because if that’s the case, then there is a serious issue with the umpiring, which is not the case here. DRS adds another dimension to the game and allows the players to check upstairs if they feel they have been hard done by. What has to be told to the players in the middle is the fact that it is okay sometimes not to use all the reviews.
