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50 days to go: India’s unknown enemy is UDRS

India’s reluctance to use the umpiring review system is a well-known and well documented fact. What is equally well known is the proposed big use of UDRS in the upcoming mega event and India, we all know certainly do not start as favourites in that department. If anything, India are expected to severely struggle using the referral system since they are not trained to do so. Recently, many were talking about the need to have a toss coach and/or to send someone other than Dhoni to the middle before the spin of the coin. Agreed toss is about the rub of the green of which UDRS is not about and we have seen that in recent days.

The Ashes was a classic example. Both Australia and England certainly looked well versed with the usage of UDRS. Alastair Cook was a great example in the MCG test. When field umpire Aleem Dar gave him out, he wasted not even a single second in signalling for a TV referral. This was because Cook was 100% sure he had got an inside edge to the ball. Even in the Durban test, South Africans were bitterly disappointed at not being able to use the UDRS since the dismissals of AB de Villiers and Mark Boucher certainly looked doubtful and would have been reversed if the TV was used.

The point here is not whether UDRS is good or not. It is about learning something which you have to follow whether you like it or not. This is like getting a child admitted to a school. You will face resistance from the kid on the first couple of days but that doesn’t mean you stop the admission. The World Cup is round the corner and the ICC has made it clear that the UDRS will be used.

This certainly leaves India in a tight spot since none of the players actually know how to use it effectively. It is one thing to use a referral system and something else to use it to one’s advantage. India had an extremely bitter pill to swallow the only time they used it. That was during India’s tour of Sri Lanka in 2008. India’s success rate with UDRS in that tour was less than 10% while Sri Lanka enjoyed a success rate of nearly 70%. We all know the outcome of the series. It was plain and simple. India just didn’t know how to use the UDRS.

http://sports.in.msn.com/cricket/201...mentid=4753850