Home Sports Hot Spot blinks, no DRS for India-England series

Hot Spot blinks, no DRS for India-England series

By IANS,

Mumbai : The controversial Decision Review System (DRS) will not be used in the India-England One-day International series, beginning Oct 14 in Hyderabad.

The Board of Control for Cricket in India (BCCI) Friday confirmed that DRS will not be in operation in the five-match ODI series and the one-off Twenty20 International, but the International Cricket Council clarified that it will not be in use because the suppliers of Hot Spot have decided not to send their infra-red cameras to India.

“The DRS will not be used during the forthcoming ODI series between India and England following a decision by the developers and suppliers of Hotspot not to make their infra-red cameras available for the five-match series,” the ICC said in a statement.

Confirming it, BCCI secretary Sanjay Jagdale said the DRS will not be used for the series to be played Oct 14-29.

The BCCI had okayed the use of DRS minus the ball-tracking feature during India’s tour of England that concluded last month. But a series of unconvincing decisions on the tour raised several questions on the effectiveness of the Hot Spot technology.

“It is not necessary for me to dwell on the accuracy of Hot Spot, it was for everybody to see (in England). The BCCI will raise the issue at the next International Cricket Council (ICC) meeting. We want to revisit our stand on DRS because we feel that Hot Spot is insufficient. We do not wish to use the DRS in its present form, even in its minimum standard,” BCCI president Srinivasan had said after the board’s Annual General Meeting.

The ICC had decided in June that DRS cannot be used without the infra-red cameras even in a series where the ball-tracking is not employed.

The ICC appointed New Zealand’s Billy Bowden as the neutral umpire in the series in place of Australia’s Simon Taufel.

“As a result of DRS not being used in this series, the ICC Elite Panel umpire Simon Taufel will not be required to officiate in the matches. ICC Elite umpire Billy Bowden will stand in the series,” ICC statement stated.