Sachin Tendulkar wants DRS done away with, says he’s “still confused”
Sachin Tendulkar has come down heavily on the decision review system (DRS) and suggested its scrapping. The former India batsman feels the rule is “too confusing for an outsider” and said the International Cricket Council (ICC) doesn't seem to be understanding the crux of the matter after recent revisions to some DRS-based laws.
Sachin Tendulkar also highlighted issues in the leg before wicket (lbw) rule and urged the game’s global governing body to do away with the umpire's call, adding that if the ball hits the stump even by 1%, the batsman should be adjudged out.
Sachin Tendulkar was asked, in a chat with The Telegraph, whether he would like to bring any changes to the rules of cricket. The legend replied:
"I would suggest only one change: Do away with the Decision Review System. I am still confused. For example, the lbw rule... It’s just not the right approach. Why does the fielding side go to the third umpire? That’s because they are convinced the on-field umpire has made a wrong decision. But why are they coming back to the on-field umpire when one team believes he had made a wrong decision?"
Elaborating his point of view, Sachin Tendulkar said:
"When it comes to lbw decisions, we need to be very clear that if the ball is hitting even one per cent of the stump it should be given out. It should be either the ball is hitting or not. Now they have gone from bottom edge of the bails to top edge of the bails — more than 50 per cent has to hit. How can they define between 49 and 51 per cent? They are saying machine is not accurate and here you are going down to literally two per cent. So you can get two per cent accuracy but the remaining 49 per cent you can’t get, which is ridiculous."
Sachin Tendulkar added:
I find that really baffling because I feel it’s not the right approach. It’s too confusing for an outsider. The ICC doesn’t seem to be understanding that."
"We have the right balance" - Sachin Tendulkar on Team India's chances ahead of WTC final
Sachin Tendulkar, who believes India have the right balance of experienced players and young guns in their squad, feels Virat Kohli and co. have all their bases covered ahead of the World Test Championship (WTC) final against New Zealand. He stated:
"We have the firepower and need to be able to execute our plans. We have all the angles covered — aggression, patience, experience and the young guns. We have the right balance."
India recently announced their 15-man squad for the WTC final, with some notable names like KL Rahul, Mayank Agarwal and Axar Patel missing out.