BCCI open to 'improved' DRS, but denies immediate adoption of controversial review system

New Delhi: The Board of Control for Cricket in India (BCCI) secretary Anurag Thakur on Thursday reiterated that the controversial Decision Review System (DRS) will be accepted with an "improved version".

Sharing the microphone with Indian commentators during the Day 1 lunch-time show of the ongoing second Test between India and Sri Lanka in Colombo, Thakur said that, "I think if you look at the past six months, there are many matches that we have lost and then we come back and say, ‘Oh we have lost this match, let’s look at DRS again.’ It should not be that you are looking at the system just because you have lost matches.”

He was obviously referring to the recent comment made by Indian skipper Virat Kohli after losing the first Test to the hosts. Kolhi said that the issue regarding the use of DRS needs to be deliberated.

“You have to look at the overall feasibility of it, whether it is practical, whether it is close to 100%, whether it is going to help decisions be implemented. If that is there, we have never closed our minds on DRS," Thakur explained.

The BJP Member of Parliament from Lok Sabha from Hamirpur also revealed that BCCI's technical committee chairman Anil Kumble had recently visited the United States along with International Cricket Council (ICC) top officials to the Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT) to discuss the improvements in DRS.

“Recently Anil Kumble and others went to MIT in the United States to look at the system and how we can improve it further. There are areas we can look at, improve it to the next level and if that is possible,” he said.

The cricket administrator then said that the Indian cricket board was never against the controversial system, but only wanted an improved version.

“We can speak to the ICC on what is the feedback of the committee when they went to this institute (MIT), what is the outcome of that. If there is an improved version, then why not? Ultimately, if that helps in your decision-making, then why not? But as the existing system is, as of now, we still stand on the previous decisions,” Thakur added.