Having come under fire in the last domestic season for poor standards of umpiring, the Board of Control for Cricket in India (BCCI) under the Supreme Court-appointed Committee of Administrators (CoA) has decided to use 'limited DRS' during the knockout stages of the Ranji Trophy this season.
Speaking to IANS, a senior BCCI official said that it has become the norm under the CoA to ensure that the image of the board remains intact on the outside even if the foundation is getting weaker by the day.
GM Cricket Operations Saba Karim, who is currently in the UK, had said that the idea to introduce 'limited DRS' is to avoid howlers as was seen during the knockout stages of the 2018-19 season of the Ranji Trophy.
But a senior board functionary wants to know why an effort isn't being made to ensure that things improve right from conducting fair examination of umpires.
"Questions are raised over the process of examination to recruit umpires. Why isn't that being looked into? A fair examination shouldn't be that big a problem. Then, there is an academy for umpires in Nagpur, who takes responsibility of the functioning of that academy? And how many umpires do we have in the international panel? S. Ravi was the last. So clearly, there is lack of ownership," the functionary said.
"After managing to scrape through domestic games, when they are handed duty during the Indian Premier League (IPL), they crumble under pressure. The idea to have Indian umpires in the IPL was to help them experience top-flight games and the pressure that comes with it. But here, they are getting exposed every second game as was seen in this year's matches. So, the same must also be happening in the domestic circuit. Just because it isn't televised, you don't see it," the functionary pointed.
(At The Quint, we are answerable only to our audience. Play an active role in shaping our journalism by becoming a member. Because the truth is worth it.)