Sachin Tendulkar Wants ‘Tennis-like’ DRS

NEW DELHI: God of Cricket and batting legend Sachin Tendulkar has once again brought the focus back onto technology and the TV playbacks as opposed to the on-field umpire calls when it comes to making ‘Leg Before Wicket’ (LBW) decisions. The iconic batsman, rated as the greatest batsman of the modern era, has once again spoken in support of cricket rules giving more weight to TV replays once an on-field umpire’s call is challenged through the ‘decision review system’ (DRS) in ruling the LBW decisions.

Sachin Tendulkar has been strong critic for a long time of DRS as its accuracy has been coming under question on several occasions. Tendulkar voiced his opinion to renew the demand after several LBW calls turned out to be debatable in the West Indies' victory over England in the first Test, which resumes cricket post COVID-19 global lockdown.

As per the existing DRS rules, if a ball-tracking replay shows that less than 50 percent of a ball will hit the stumps then it is left to the umpire’s discretion to reject a leg-before-wicket appeal.

If when the fielding side opts for a review when the umpire declares a batsman not out, then 50 per cent of the ball has to be hitting the stumps for the third umpire to reverse the on-field umpire’s decision.

This is where Tendulkar feels it is unfair and expects the International Cricket Council (ICC) to review the system.

"One thing I don't agree with the ICC, is the DRS they've been using for quite some time," Tendulkar commented in an online chat with West Indies legend Brian Lara.

The former India captain said the playback should prevail over the umpire regardless of how much of the cricket ball that would hit the stumps.

"The only reason they (the batsman or the bowler) have gone upstairs is because they are unhappy with the on-field decision," opined Tendulkar.

"So when the decision goes to the third umpire, let the technology take over; just like in tennis — it's either in or out, there's nothing in between."

Naturally, the batting legend’s argument was ably supported by some former cricketers on the home ground. Former India off-spinner Harbhajan Singh supported Tendulkar's view with his tweet which read, it was "1,000 percent correct".

After stonewalling the DRS for a long time, India became the last Test-playing nation to finally agree for it in 2016. There was speculation that India resisting the DRS was largely influenced by Tendulkar’s viewpoint on this until his retirement in 2013.