File image of Ravichandran Ashwin© AFP
Veteran India off-spinner Ravichandran Ashwin said the decision to bring in the Decision Review System (DRS) in this domestic cricket season will help the batters to improve their techniques. The ongoing first round of the 2024 Duleep Trophy has the DRS available for matches at Bengaluru (India A v India B) and Anantapur (India C v India D) respectively. Ashwin illustrated his point by talking about India D batter Ricky Bhui‘s batting technique of keeping the bat behind the pad playing a part in his dismissal at Anantapur.
On day two’s play, Bhui was trapped lbw by India C left-arm spinner Manav Suthar. Initially, the on-field umpire did not give it out, but India C skipper Ruturaj Gaikwad opted for the DRS and the decision was changed to out.
“DRS for domestic cricket is not just for the right decisions to be made. Ricky Bhuvi’s dismissal last evening against Manav Suthar is a classic case of a batter who will get away with this technique 10/10 times in FC cricket. This was not a faulty technique pre DRS but now it is.”
“Back in the day batters were given not out just because they managed to get on the front foot. Now, keeping your bat behind the pad can be fatal, imagine someone making the climb to international cricket without getting this experience Ricky got yesterday.”
“He could very well take an entire test series to understand what he needs to work on and his career could well be over. This is a fab experience for more than just one reason,” wrote Ashwin on ‘X’.
Former India A, U19 and Bengal wicketkeeper-batter Shreevats Goswami also made a point around this topic on ‘X’. “Full DRS in Ranji is a must !! Coming back to this point, there’s also a lot of not outs‘ given out vice versa (poor decision) which has defined careers in the past or have a lasting impact. Feel more than the technique batters/ bowlers/captains can play freely with DRS.”
Ashwin will be next seen in action when India begins its home Test season with two games against Bangladesh, followed by three matches against New Zealand before the Rohit Sharma-led side leaves for Australia to play five-match Border-Gavaskar Trophy from November 22 to January 7, 2025.
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