R Ashwin’s Push for DRS in Domestic Cricket: A Game-Changer for Rising Batters

The BCCI’s decision to implement DRS in the ongoing Duleep Trophy was applauded by senior spinner Ravichandran Ashwin, who said it will assist an aspiring batter in making the necessary technical adjustments before to potentially being introduced into international cricket.

Before India D batsman Ricky Bhui was dismissed by India C left-arm spinner Manav Suthar in the Anantapur leg of the Duleep Trophy on Friday night, Ashwin was laying out his case.

Bhui appeared to be batting smoothly at 44 when he extended his reach to play a defensive prod and was hit on the pads.

The bowler was obliged to use the Decision Review System, which supported the bowler’s request for a leg before removal, after the on-field umpire first refused to call him out.

“Making the correct decisions is not the only goal of DRS for domestic cricket. Ashwin posted on his official X handle, “Ricky Bhuvi’s (Bhui) dismissal against Manav Suthar last evening is a classic case of a batter who will get away with this technique 10/10 times in FC cricket.”

“This method wasn’t flawed before DRS, but it is now. “In the past, batters were given out for simply getting on base,” he continued.

Ashwin was right when he noted that in the past, if a hitter had placed his front foot forward and tucked the bat under the pads, the umpire would almost never have given him out.

Jimmy Adams, a former West Indian batter, used this strategy to avoid being leg before wicket so frequently before the DRS that he was known as “Padams.”

However, given that bowlers can use DRS to reverse an on-field decision, early in a player’s career, hitters will need to modify their playing approach.

It was hinted at by Ashwin.

“Imagine someone ascending to the international cricket team without having the same experience Ricky had yesterday—keeping your bat behind the pad can be lethal.

“He could very well take an entire Test series to understand what he needs to work on and his career could well be over,” he wrote.

Nevertheless, domestic matches have not yet completely included the DRS, which was initially adopted in the 2019–20 season.

It is still limited to high-profile domestic events like the quarterfinals and finals of the Ranji Trophy.

The UltraEdge function was initially absent from the DRS and was subsequently incorporated into the system, albeit solely for the championship game, during the 2022–2023 domestic season.

However, for the ongoing Duleep Trophy matches in Bengaluru and Anantapur, the complete version of the DRS is accessible.

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