The Decision Review System (DRS) will be used for the first time in the men’s T20 World Cup to be held in Oman and UAE starting this month. International Cricket Council (ICC) informed about it while releasing the playing conditions for the upcoming tournament.
ICC’s Elite Panel of Umpires and Match Referees, CEO Allardice praised the performances of the home country umpires over the past 18 months, backed by the usage of DRS. He also stated that ICC hoped neutral umpires would be used globally sooner rather than later.
“We’re able to get all of our Elite Panel umpires here and our referees here to officiate in this tournament. The UAE is a country that is fairly straightforward now to move in and out of. The issue is in other countries which have different levels of restriction.” said Geoff Allardice
“Our position has been we’ll be trying to use neutral officials wherever the circumstances allow. In a number of countries, there are still restrictions that make that difficult. And moving umpires in as individuals is a bit different to team movements. And we’ve found that over the last few months. The home country umpires have performed extremely well over the last 18 months. And are supported by DRS, whether we need an extra review or not. I think we’re in a rhythm with that at the moment.” he added
Each team to get a maximum of two reviews
According to an ESPNcricinfo report, each team will get a maximum of two reviews per innings. The governing body had confirmed in June last year an additional unsuccessful DRS review for each team in each innings of a match across all formats, “keeping in mind that there may be less experienced umpires on duty at times” owing to COVID-19-related reasons. So, the number of unsuccessful appeals per innings for each team has increased to two in the white-ball formats and three in Test matches.
In the earlier men’s T20 World Cups, DRS was not applicable. DRS made its first appearance in an ICC T20I tournament in 2018 at the women’s T20 World Cup. It was also used at the 2020 women’s T20 World Cup in Australia.
In another development, a drinks break of 2 minutes and 30 seconds will take place during the halfway mark of each inning. A decision on overs for delayed and rain-interrupted matches has also been taken by the ICC. During the group stages, the DLS method will come into play only if each team has played a minimum of five overs. For the semi-finals and the final, each team will need to bat for a minimum of 10 overs to effect a result.
The tournament will begin on October 17 in Oman and UAE. The final will be played in Dubai on November 14. India will start their ICC T20 World Cup campaign against the arch-rivals Pakistan on October 24 in Dubai.