Fatullah (Bangladesh), June 15 (IANS) India Test captain Virat Kohli said he is open to discussing the usage of the Decision Review System (DRS) with his team, even as the Board of Control of Cricket in India (BCCI) continues to oppose its employment in matches.
The rain-marred one-off Test match between India and Bangladesh ended in a tame draw as the hosts finished at 23 for no loss in their second innings after being forced to follow-on on Day 5 at the Khan Shaheb Osman Ali Stadium here on Sunday.
“You have to sit and analyse and ask the bowlers what they feel about it. Ask the batters what they feel about that,” Kohli was quoted as saying by ESPNcricinfo on Sunday.
“We literally just came into this Test match with very less time on hand. So now that we have time, I am sure these discussions will take place.”
India is the only team who insist on not using the DRS in a series, but things appear to be changing.
Last year, Kohli’s predecessor Mahendra Singh Dhoni had opened up on the possibility of India changing their mind about the DRS if it would assess an appeal independently and not try to “justify” the on-field umpire’s call.
The situation has changed from when N. Srinivasan, then BCCI president, dubbed DRS “a faulty system” in October 2013.
Earlier this month, International Cricket Council (ICC) CEO Dave Richardson said the BCCI doesn’t want the DRS because it goes “against the spirit of cricket.”
The ICC argued that umpires getting heavily criticised and teams threatening to leave a series due to umpiring are reasons to consider the DRS.
“We have always said that we would like to have the same rules for everybody as far as DRS is concerned and implement it on a uniform, consistent basis,” Richardson said.
“The fact is though one of our members doesn’t want DRS, they have a number of concerns regarding DRS. The major one being in their view the principle of a player reviewing an umpire’s decision goes against the grain of what the spirit of cricket is all about,” he said.
Richardson further said that the ICC is testing the technology to make it more accurate and reliable. He was confident that through these processes, the BCCI will agree on the DRS.
–Indo-Asian New Service
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