No DRS for Pakistan's Tests in the UAE

There will be no DRS for Pakistan's Test series against Sri Lanka and England in the UAE, though the system will be in place for the one-day matches. The PCB has not been able to reach an agreement with its broadcaster, Ten Sports, to fund the technology required for the DRS for the Test matches, its chief operating officer Subhan Ahmad said.

"We in principle support the use of the DRS and want it for both Tests and ODIs but unfortunately we couldn't reach an understanding with our broadcasters for the Tests," Ahmad told PTI. "We have however reached an understanding with a company to bear the costs for the use of the DRS technology in the one-day matches in both series."

In its annual conference in June, the ICC had agreed to make the DRS mandatory for all Tests and ODIs, subject to commercial considerations. The DRS it mandated included Hot Spot but not necessarily ball-tracking technology.

Since the PCB had contracted its broadcaster before the DRS had been approved, it did not have any agreement on who would fund the required technology. "But when we sign our next contract for broadcasting rights we will try to ensure the broadcaster is willing to bear the costs of using the DRS system in our series including Tests and ODIs," Ahmad said. There was no announcement about whether the DRS for the series would employ the Hot Spot, ball tracking or both.

Since the ICC's decision at their conference, countries have used the DRS in different forms. For the ongoing England-India Test and one-day series, Hot Spot is being used but reviews for lbw decisions have been disallowed. Contrastingly, Sri Lanka have decided to use ball-tracking technology for their home series against Australia but have not been able to afford Hot Spot. Meanwhile, Zimbabwe have not used the DRS for either of their home series against Bangladesh and now Pakistan. The last time Pakistan used the review system was during the World Cup.

Pakistan are scheduled to play three Tests, five ODIs and a Twenty20 international against Sri Lanka in the UAE in October-November, and then three Tests, four ODIs and three T20s against England in January-February next year.