Rivals Pakistan and Sri Lanka united on Tuesday to demand mandatory video technology after several umpiring howlers in their first Test, placing themselves in opposition to India’s powerful cricket board.
The Decision Review System (DRS), which uses ball tracking and thermal imaging to verify umpires’ decisions, was recommended for mandatory use in all Tests and one-day internationals by cricket chiefs on Monday, subject to member nations financing the technology.
But Sri Lankan captain Mahela Jayawardene said he wanted the International Cricket Council (ICC) to pay for the technology if individual boards, such as his own, cannot afford to fund it when they host touring teams.
“The ICC must take it upon themselves to fund the system for the boards which cannot afford to, instead of leaving it to them to decide whether they use it or not,” said Jayawardene.
“I have always been a fan of the DRS. It might not be 100 per cent technology but, if we can use it to get the maximum number of correct decisions, it will help the umpires as well,” he said.
The Galle Test, which Sri Lanka won by 209 runs on Monday, was marred by at least 12 contentious decisions by umpires Steve Davis and Ian Gould, with Pakistan suffering the most.
DRS is not being used in the three-Test series, reportedly due to cost factors, but was in Sri Lanka’s previous home campaign against England.
The ICC’s Executive Board – at meetings in Kuala Lumpur – will consider a recommendation by its chief executives’ committee to make DRS mandatory.
The ICC had previously made DRS mandatory for all series, but changed its stance last year following objections from India, which accounts for most of global cricket revenues.
Mohammad Hafeez, captaining Pakistan in Galle in the absence of Misbah ul-Haq, said uncertainty about the video referral technology should end.
“One thing I want to say is that it is time for the highest authorities to make a decision about the DRS,” said Hafeez. “It should be made compulsory for every game.
“I feel as a player, not having the DRS puts a lot of pressure on you and that pressure goes to the umpires. If this technology can improve the game, then why not?
“The authorities should either go for it, or not at all.”
Pakistani coach Dav Whatmore on Sunday slammed the selective implementation of the DRS.
India has been suspicious of DRS since making a number of unsuccessful referrals during the 2008 Test series with Sri Lanka, when the technology was on trial.
India’s cricket board said in a statement on Monday that its stance on the system remained “unchanged”, arguing that it was “not foolproof”.
India cannot veto a decision by the full ICC board to make DRS compulsory. But it does enjoy outsized influence thanks to the money it has generated in the world game, in part owing to the Indian Premier League’s runaway success.