Ricky Ponting urges India to embrace DRS

Australia batsman Ricky Ponting has joined former England skipper Mike Brearley in calling for India to get on board with the decision review system (DRS).

But Brearley admits India's enormous political clout within the International Cricket Council (ICC) means some countries aren't prepared to stand their ground and challenge their point of view.

India's most recent Test tour of Australia four years ago almost ended mid-series after Anil Kumble's side became outraged over a series of umpiring errors.

Now four years on India captain MS Dhoni is a harsh critic of the DRS, which is designed to weed out the sort of basic errors which marred the controversial Sydney Test of 2007/08.

Former Test captain Ponting says the DRS clearly improves the game and represents the way forward for world cricket.

"As international players, one thing you strive for is uniformity around the world and right at the moment we haven't got that," Ponting said as Michael Clarke's men prepared for Friday's third Test against India in Perth.

"We played one series a (few) weeks ago against South Africa where you're using a certain system and then a couple of weeks later you come (home and) you're not using that system.

"That's the only disappointing thing about it.

"When it first came in, my understanding was it was going to be used in every series and it hasn't turned out that way.

"One thing that we've learnt about the system is that it's not always perfect.

"But the bottom line is we are actually getting more correct decisions as a result of using the system than we are with not using the system and that has got to be great for the game."

The MCC World Cricket Committee met in Cape Town this week and urged the ICC to ensure uniformity in the implementation of the DRS.

"Because of the governance and because of the power of India and because of the fact that other countries we understand won't willingly or easily stand up to India, we have this situation that we don't like," committee chairman Brearley said.

"We have the DRS in place, which improves the accuracy of decision-making, except when India are playing."

MCC head of cricket John Stephenson said it was encouraging that India had called for more testing of technology.

"We're hoping that once that research has been undertaken the report will go back to the ICC and the Board of Control for Cricket in India will start to buy into it," he said.

India batsman and ex-skipper Rahul Dravid backed Dhoni's recent comments about how the DRS isn't foolproof and is yet to win over the Indian camp.

Dravid, who is a member of the MCC World Cricket Committee, said he was unaware of Brearley's remarks.

"If you'd asked me six months ago, I was definitely very pro-DRS," Dravid said on Wednesday.

"But incidents over the last six months mean that my own stance is quite weak sometimes.

"But it's a work in process. If technology keeps improving, keeps getting better, it's not something we can close our eyes on."

- AAP

Source: http://www.stuff.co.nz/dominion-post/sport/cricket/6243835/Ricky-Ponting-urges-India-to-embrace-DRS

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