Does India use DRS for a Test cricket series?

08-02-2023
3 min read
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Australia are currently in India for a massive four-game Test series in February, with the side hoping to win the Border-Gavaskar Trophy for the first time since 2015. 

Pat Cummins will lead the side and look to become the first Aussie skipper to win a Test series in India since 2004/05.

The decision review system (DRS) has become a major factor in international and domestic cricket across the world in the past decade, with Australia one of the first countries to fully accept it.

India on the other hand were not so welcoming to the DRS, who at first rejected the ICC's decision to implement it across all international fixtures in 2012.

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However, the BCCI eventually warmed up to the DRS back in 2016, and it has become a staple of international and domestic cricket in India ever since. 

Why did India reject the DRS?

Despite being one of the first teams to use the DRS back in its infancy in a 2008 match with Sri Lanka, India would move away from the concept following the series after yielding just one successful review.

Indian officials doubted the accuracy of the DRS for both caught and LBW decisions and steered clear of using it during matches at home. England and Australia were the only other cricketing nations that could afford the full DRS output in the early years and would use it for matches at home.

After multiple modifications, ICC pushed to make the system mandatory across all international games in June 2012, but it was opposed by the BCCI. 

Four years later, India would finally welcome the DRS and did a trial run for a five-game Test series against England. 

When did India accept the DRS?

After years of rejecting the DRS, India would fully accept the system in 2017 following their trial run against England. 

Since then, India now use it for the IPL but can not afford to implement it for their first-class domestic competition (Ranji Trophy) as of the 2022 season commencing. 

India will use the DRS in its entirety for the upcoming series against Australia.