BCCI won't change stand against DRS

The BCCI will oppose the recommendation of the ICC's cricket committee to implement the Decision Review System (DRS) in all internationals, the board's secretary N Srinivasan has said. The recommendation, made on Wednesday, will be tabled for ratification or rejection at the ICC's executive board meeting in Hong Kong between June 26-30.

"I am a member of the executive board," Srinivasan said. "We will put forward the BCCI's position, which has been very clear right from the start, when the executive board meets.

"The cricket committee is just a sub-committee and it can only make recommendations, it is for the executive board to ratify them or not. We will oppose it at the Executive Board because the UDRS in its present form is unacceptable to us."

The Indian board has consistently opposed the DRS. The system was implemented in the World Cup but India saw themselves at the end of a controversial decision involving Ian Bell. Following that, Srinivasan, in a letter to the ICC, had said: "The inadequacy of the UDRS has been exposed in this edition of the World Cup."

The cricket committee also suggested the number of unsuccessful reviews allowed for each team in an innings be brought down to one from two in limited-overs cricket. The DRS was used in all games during the World Cup, but the Indian board has always had reservations about it, including captain MS Dhoni.

The ICC's general manager of cricket, Dave Richardson, was hopeful about changing India's views. "The level of believability in ball-tracking systems has improved," Richardson said on Wednesday. "Hopefully, member boards and the India board will take cognizance of that."

The DRS was first implemented in Tests in 2008 when India toured Sri Lanka in a series they lost. The hosts made significantly better use of the system, making 11 successful reviews, while India managed just one.