Ranji Trophy 2019-20 | Limited DRS to be available from the semi-finals, reveals Saba Karim
BCCI general manager of cricket operations, Saba Karim has revealed that the limited use of the Decision Review System was always planned for the Ranji Trophy semi-finals on Tuesday. After the umpires committed some howlers in knockout games of the previous season, the BCCI introduced limited DRS.
Former Indian wicket-keeper batsman Saba Karim revealed that the limited use of Decision Review System was always planned for the Ranji Trophy semi-finals and not from the knockout stages. He further added that the whole idea is that they wanted to bring in the DRS where in they can have uniformity for both the games and that will be in the semifinals of the Ranji Trophy.
"We are introducing them from the semifinals. This the first time we have initiated this program, we wanted to bring in semifinals and we have done that. It was never meant for the quarterfinals. The whole idea is that we wanted to bring in the DRS wherein we can have uniformity for both the games and that will be in the semifinals. All the four teams have been pitted equally and that would not have been possible before (in quarters)," said Karim reported The Times Of India.
The technology that is going to be used for the semi-finals is very restricted when it comes to the components that will be available for use during the games. Ranji semis will not have Hawk Eye and Ultra Edge, two key components of the DRS used in international games. Karim said they are looking at very limited use of the technology and they will use technology that is available to them.
"We will be using the technology which is available to us. We are looking at a very limited use of the DRS. We don't have snickometer and ball tracking. We have red zone and we have spin vision and we will try and give whatever is available to umpires for them to decide," added Karim.
The 52-year-old had admitted that Last season, in some of the knockout matches, there was some flak on umpires because there were some terrible howlers. He suggested that they will use the technology in the knock-out stage of the tournament this year to help umpires make correct decisions.
"Last season, in some of the knockout matches, there was some flak on umpires because there were some terrible howlers. So we want to avoid all that and use whatever help we can get. For the knockouts in Ranji Trophy matches, we will utilise all the technology available to us as a means to apply the limited DRS to help the on-field umpires make the correct decision," expressed Karim.