Waqar Younis criticizes DRS

KARACHI, Oct. 29 (APP): Pakistani Coach Waqar Younis, has
criticised the inconsistency of the Decision Review System (DRS), and
believes that the margin of doubt for Umpire’s Call should be
increased from 50 to 75 percent.
“The current set-up, is allowing match officials to be complacent
in their decision-making,” he told a cricinfo.com the other day.
An umpire’s call verdict is currently given when the TV replays
suggest that an lbw decision is too marginal to be fairly overturned.
Waqar believes there is excessive weight given to distinct
parameters – pitching point, point of impact with batsman’s body, and
whether the ball is hitting the stumps or not.
Presently, if the umpire gives an appeal not out and less than
half the ball is shown to be hitting the stumps, the decision will not
be overturned.
“I strongly believed this 50 percent formula is not fair to the
players,” Waqar said.
“They should even it out a little bit by making it 70/30 or
75/25. If the ball strikes you inside the line, 25 percent it should
be given out rather than making a verdict on the basis of 50 percent.
Sometimes a decision is not out when it is hitting 49 percent [of the
stump], even though you are convinced that it is hitting flush. So
that sparks frustration, this whole mechanism needs to be tweaked.
“Even if it’s hitting the stump 30 percent, it should be given
out rather than applying Umpire’s Call and a 50 percent margin. We
don’t mind playing with DRS but the important factor is it should
involve all elements, otherwise it will kept on leaving out a lot of
controversy.”
DRS technology is being used during Pakistan’s series against
England, although without the use of HotSpot and Snickometer, because
their addition would raise the cost by more than $6,000 per day. The
third umpire is explicitly prohibited from discussing whether or not a
particular appeal should be given out or not, as DRS requires
conclusive evidence to overturn a decision. However, with half of the
technology in use, Waqar doesn’t believe this makes any sense.
“This half-DRS is not acceptable and the system like this
doesn’t make any sense,” he said. “You either don’t have it or have it
complete. We have witnessed big blunders and I think the ICC should
look into the matter and it should be the one body controlling it uniformly
for all.”Sometimes one bad decision can affect the entire game like we
had in Abu Dhabi. I have already met with the ICC and suggested that
they revisit their parameters. They have agreed to some extent and I
hope this will be considered at their cricket committee meeting,”
Pakistan chief coach said.

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