‘So here’s a simple solution to help improve….’ -Michael Vaughan comes up with solution for DRS controversy

The India vs. England Test series has been marked by controversy over the Decision Review System (DRS). England has raised the most issues, believing that they have been on the wrong end of the umpire's ruling on several occasions during the series.



Following an unusual dismissal of Zak Crawley in the third Test match in Rajkot, England captain Ben Stokes requested for the umpire's ruling to be overturned. In Rajkot's final innings, Jasprit Bumrah caught Zak Crawley in front of the stumps with an inswinger. Umpire Kumar Dharmasena lifted his finger and ruled the batsman out, which was backed by the DRS.

Ben Stokes and the rest of the England team looked confused when the visuals revealed that the ball had nearly missed the top of a leg stump. The England captain had explained the problem to match referee Jeff Crowe, who informed Stokes that there was a discrepancy between numerical data and visuals. 

In the ongoing fourth Test at JSCA International Stadium, Ranchi, the same thing happened when Joe Root was trapped in front of Ravichandran Ashwin on Day 3. The ball-tracking system used in DRS shows that more than half part of the ball was outside the line when it was pitched as the ball was going to hit the leg stump. Joe Root left the crease without any problems but in the dressing room, he checked the DRS again.

Michael Vaughan has proposed a simple solution to the problem 

Former England captain Michael Vaughan has proposed a simple solution to the problem in his recent column for The Telegraph. Vaughan has suggested that there is growing doubt among fans in the reliability of DRS and that the Cricket Governing Body might restore faith by installing a camera and microphone in the DRS room where calls are made.

"It only takes one look at social media to see that a lot of people don’t trust it. There is so much anger and suspicion about decisions that go for or against certain teams. There’s suspicion about host broadcasters and who is in the truck. That is despite the technology companies not actually being from the same country as the host broadcaster. For instance, Hawk-Eye is a company from the UK but is being used in this series. They are just brought in by the host broadcaster," Vaughan wrote in his column.

"So here’s a simple solution to help improve transparency and accountability: stick a camera and microphone in the truck so as a decision is being made, we all know exactly what is going on, and how much humans are involved. And if you stick a Cricket Governing Body official in there as well, we’d know that the integrity – something we talk so much about in the game – is intact. You could argue that those running the technology in the truck are as important as the two standing umpires," Vaughan added.