In the first Test against Australia in Pune, India suffered a heavy 333-run defeat in under three days. The overall numbers from the game were largely disappointing for India – the batting order was dismissed for 105 and 107 in the two innings, Steve Smith scored 109 in one innings, Steve O’Keefe snapped 12 wickets for only 70 runs.
But another number that should trouble the hosts is this: India got one out of seven DRS referrals right; all four reviews while fielding were incorrect and only one out of the three while batting was reversed.
India’s misadventures with the Decision Review System (DRS) are nothing new. From not wanting anything to do with it to finally adapting it before the Test series against England, the team has seems to still be coming to terms with the system and the numbers aren’t very promising.
In the seven Tests since DRS was introduced, India have got only 17 out of 55 referrals right, which is a mere 30.9, according to PTI. In fact, India have gotten more than two referrals correct in one Test match only thrice.
At Visakhapatnam, three out of nine referrals were called right while in Chennai, three out of 10 were correct. The one-off Test against Bangladesh at Hyderabad was the most fruitful with five out of 11 correct calls.
For anyone who has seen the matches, this number may not come as a surprise. We have seen the Indian batsmen and sometimes even captain Virat Kohli take to the DRS, more in an act of desperation than from a thought out process.
For instance, in the Pune Test, both Indian openers Murali Vijay and KL Rahul hastily took both the reviews avaialble to India within first six overs, which left the team with no reviews for a substantial part of the day. Had a set bastman then got a howler of a decision, there would have been no way for him to contest it.
The returns are worse when India is fielding, Kohli having called only 10 out of 42 referrals correctly in the seven Test matches so far, which is only 23%. While batting, it is much better with seven successful reviews out of 13 taken.
Even in the Pune Test, Kohli asked for a couple of imprudent DRS calls, especially on LBW decisions. This could have had a major bearing on the game as India reviewed and failed twice off successive Jayant Yadav overs against Mitchell Marsh, which lead to Steve Smith eventually being let off the hook when the Australia captain was actually out. Smith went on to score a ton as Australia took an unassailable lead.
However, it is not just Kohli who is often misguided in his reviews while fielding, the onus also lies with close-in fielders, especially the wicket-keeper. Wriddhiman Saha has definitely not been the most observant of keepers when it comes to DRS. Anyone who has watched India play Test cricket will notice that Saha is often the last to go up in an appeal, and sometimes only appeals after the bowler – which is unlike most wicketkeepers in international cricket.
Former India wicketkeeeper Deep Dasgupta belives that DRS should be strictly used for howlers. “It is a tool to help umpires be as accurate as possible. For me an umpire’s call should only be challenged in case of leg before if a player is absolutely sanguine that he has had an inside edge onto the pads,” Dasgupta was quoted as saying by PTI.
“Every batsman knows if he has had an edge or not. So if anyone thinks that ball tracker will help him, he should get the concept right. As far as fielding team’s referrals are concerned, the wicketkeeper should be the DRS captain. He should be assertive enough if need be to tell the skipper that don’t go for it. The keeper’s conviction makes it easier for the skipper,” he added.