KOLKATA — India Test captain Virat Kohli remains sceptical on the accuracy of ball-tracking technology but hinted India might be ready to finally embrace the Decision Review System (DRS).
The influential Indian cricket board (BCCI) has been a staunch opponent of the DRS system, which aims at reducing umpiring howlers by detecting edges and predicting ball trajectory to get correct catch and leg-before decisions.
The BCCI does not allow DRS in bilateral series involving its team but Kohli said they had been discussing the issue for a while.
“We want to definitely think about it but it’s something we have had discussion on and certainly look to probably introduce it in future,” Kohli said on the eve of the second Test against New Zealand at Kolkata’s Eden Gardens.
“These are the things we have had meetings on. There were areas which we felt can be debated... specially the ball-tracking and the Hawk-Eye.”
“We won’t take (erroneous umpiring) decisions too hard because we in the first place decided that we won’t use DRS. For us to say then that umpires made an error and it’s going against us, it’s not logical.
“Once DRS is in place, once DRS is up and running for us as well, then you can say what are the grey areas.”
Addressing media in place of New Zealand skipper Kane Williamson, who is down with a bug, opener Tom Latham vouched for technology.
“I suppose we’ve had it in the past back home and it is a good system that tends to work,” the left-hander said.
“It gets rid of that decision that probably isn’t out or is out, that major decision that is called incorrectly. We enjoyed it back home, if (India started using it) that’d be great.”
Williamson skipped training but would be available as the tourists sought to level the series after losing the series opener in Kanpur, Latham said.
Pakistan, West Indies launch World Cup fight
Former champions Pakistan and the West Indies start a narrow two-way fight for an automatic place in the 2019 Cricket World Cup in a three-match one-day series starting in Sharjah Friday.
Pakistan, the 1992 champion, needs to win the series 3-0 to rise one place from ninth while its opponent — champion in the first two World Cups in 1975 and 1979 — needs to avoid a clean sweep to maintain its current eighth spot.
Host England and the seven highest-ranked sides in the one-day rankings on Sept. 30 next year will qualify directly for the World Cup.
The bottom four teams in the standings will be joined by six Associate sides in a 10-team qualifying round in 2018 from where two teams will qualify.
Both Pakistan and the West Indies will also play in three one-day matches in the Caribbean next March.
Australia’s rookie fast bowlers face S. Africa test
Australia’s fast bowling reserves will be put to the test during a five-match One-Day International series against South Africa starting at Centurion Friday.
The world’s leading one-day team will be without an entire battery of top-class pace bowlers when it takes on its fourth-ranked challengers.
Mitchell Starc and Josh Hazlewood have been rested, while Nathan Coulter-Nile, James Pattinson, Pat Cummins, James Faulkner and Peter Siddle were ruled out by injury.
The touring squad includes three new fast bowlers in Daniel Worrall, who earned his first cap in Australia’s nine-wicket win against Ireland in Benoni Tuesday, Chris Tremain and Joe Mennie. — Agencies
