The Decision Review System (DRS) has been a significant part of international cricket for close to two decades now. Major T20 leagues across the world also have DRS in their fixtures and it is a no-brainer that the move is of utmost importance to enhance decision-making in cricket. Meanwhile, the Board of Control for Cricket in India (BCCI) is thinking about adopting it in domestic cricket too.
At the recent Apex Council meeting, the BCCI held an initial round of discussions regarding the addition of DRS to domestic cricket system. However, there isn't any information available about the timeline of this plan, given that it isn't a straightforward task to execute. The main challenge is the obvious financial strain, even with BCCI's immense monetary supremacy.
According to sources, using the HawkEye technology, a critical element of DRS, costs from $10000-15000 per matchday. Considering that India has multiple multi-day tournaments and two major white-ball tournaments at senior level in domestic cricket, there could be roughly 1500 matches for BCCI to consider.
If the decision to use DRS is finalised at some point, the total cost for BCCI would be around Rs 150 crore for HawkEye technology alone. According to Cricbuzz, the BCCI is looking for an alternate technology that is being developed by a set of IIT students. This technology is reportedly set to cost around $2000-3000 per match day but obviously, it might be too early to compare it to HawkEye's standards.
BCCI is keeping a keen eye on the development of of this 'Desi DRS system' and meanwhile, the wait continues for further clarity regarding DRS usage in domestic cricket. The umpiring standards have always been questionable in domestic cricket and the usage of DRS would benefit players, not just to overturn bad decisions but also mould their skills with respect to using DRS.
A fixed timeline might not be in their minds yet but the BCCI might be targeting the 2026-27 domestic season to have their first shot at implementing DRS. For now, the waiting game continues.
