MUMBAI: Batting legend Sachin Tendulkar has welcomed India’s move to embrace the Decision Review System (DRS) after resisting it for long, during the on-going India-England Test series. The maestro, however, feels that that instead of players asking for a referral, it is the third umpire who should be telling the on field umpire to overturn any decision made by the latter.
Citing Cheteshwar Pujara’s dismissal (lbw to leg-spinner Adil Rashid) in the first Test at Rajkot, when India’s No 3 batsman could’ve survived had he reviewed the decision (the ball had pitched outside the leg stump), Tendulkar told TOI on Monday: “I feel that the third umpire should be able to overturn the decision of the on-field umpire, if he feels the need to do so. The introduction of the DRS is to ensure that the correct decision is made. The third umpire has to work in consultation with the on-field umpire, who is a human, and can err at times. All the umpires must work as a team in this case.
“If the third umpire had made a decision in this case, you would’ve eliminated the possibility of the players asking for a review. If we’re convinced about using DRS, then this is the best way to go about it.”
Apart from Pujara, even non-striker Murali Vijay has received a lot of flak for not helping the batsman review the decision, but Tendulkar felt that it was unfair to blame the opener. “As a non-striker, you’re in your ‘zone’ sometimes, thinking about how you’re going to bat. These things can happen,” the 43-year-old said. Tendulkar denied that he was averse to using technology in the past, a perception which was built after India failed to use the technology properly during the only other time they played with it, in Sri Lanka in 2008. “I was never against DRS. My only contention was that it should be used in a standardised manner everywhere. For example, you can’t have the ‘hot spot’ and the ‘snickometer’ in one series, and not have it in another.
“Things were different a few years ago. At that time, the BCCI felt that it wasn’t appropriate to use it. However, things have changed now. There was, however, never a permanent decision to never use the DRS.
“If we’re convinced about using it, and things have changed for the better, there’s no harm in using it. I’m happy that we’re using it,” felt the legend.’