Scotching rumours that he is against the use of the umpires’ decision review system (DRS), Sachin Tendulkar on Thursday said he believes the use of technology is good for the game.
Ever since the Indian board has consistently refused to use the DRS in a bilateral series, rumours have
been afloat that it is being done because some of the senior players, including Tendulkar, are not convinced about the efficacy of the system.
India’s refusal once again against its use in the crucial series against England, which begins in July, has drawn widespread criticism from the English players as well as its media.
Some of the players, including off-spinner Graeme Swann, have gone on record saying “Indian batsmen are afraid of its use” as they believe it will benefit Swann in getting favourable decisions from the umpires.
Setting all speculations to rest, Tendulkar told HT on phone from London that he is not against its use at all and believes it is beneficial for the game, though he does feel that “it will be more effective with the support of snickometer and hot-spot technology”.
His reasoning for the combined use of snickometer and hot-spot is that “it will give more consistent results”. Tendulkar has a point as it has been seen that Hawkeye, the other technology in use to assist the umpires, is not always foolproof in judging the line and bounce of the ball.
In fact, two years ago, when India played against Sri Lanka with DRS in use with Hawkeye, a lot of decisions went against India and the senior players were unhappy with its use. They had, as has been reported, conveyed their displeasure to the BCCI and that is one reason why India has after that not agreed to use this system.
As far as hot-spot goes, the ongoing England Test series against Sri Lanka has shown that even it can go wrong in picking up a faint edge from the bat. But unlike what was being speculated, Tendulkar, like most international players, too agrees that the use of technology is the best way forward to minimise umpiring errors.
DRS, Ireland good for cricket: Kirsten
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