The upcoming final of India’s first-class domestic championship Ranji Trophy final will have a full version of the Decision Review System (DRS). Bengal will lock horns with Saurashtra in the ultimate clash which will take place from February 16th to 20th at the Eden Gardens in Kolkata.
The BCCI had earlier implemented partial or limited DRS during the semifinals and finals of the 2019 edition of the Ranji Trophy. This version of DRS had limited features that did not comprise of the Ball-Tracking or the Ultra-Edge. These elements prove to be very crucial in important fixtures.
The decision to include the DRS system in Ranji Trophy proved to be very crucial after poor umpiring standards were observed during the 2018 edition of the championship. The umpires in the final match made many errors that had a major impact on the results. Pujara was given a golden chance and he capitalized on the opportunity and scored an astonishing ton in the fourth innings of the match that took his side Saurashtra to clinch another title.
Interestingly, the limited DRS system did not prove to be very effective or efficient. Since the Ball-Tracking feature was unavailable, the on-field umpire’s decision was hard to overturn by the third umpire. This led to no significant improvement in the umpiring standards as players continued to suffer due to poor decisions.
Apart from the ball-tracking, the absence of Ultra-Edge also hindered the third umpire’s decision to overturn the on-field umpire’s decision. Thick nicks were difficult to suffice with enough evidence and the limited technology once again failed to yield positive results.
Bengal and Saurashtra set to meet in Ranji Trophy Final
Addressing the media, Bengal skipper Manoj Tiwary welcomed the decision by BCCI and claimed it was a significant decision. He further stated that the DRS system should be available in every fixture and the players will get to benefit from it.
Furthermore, Tiwary stated that it will truly be very healthy if all the matches will have the DRS availability. It will be interesting to find the winner between two evenly matched sides.
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