How many reviews in Test cricket: The number of DRS reviews in Test cricket has changed after the COVID-19 pandemic.
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Despite being a state-of-the-art initiative, DRS (Decision Review System) hasn’t yet managed to convince cricket fans with respect to its decisions. More than the accuracy-related doubts, fans, current and former cricketers mostly are at loggerheads regarding how the system is used particularly during LBW (leg before wicket) decisions.
Most recently, legendary batsman Sachin Tendulkar had expressed displeasure regarding a certain percentage of ball hitting the stumps affecting the decision according to Hawkeye.
Discussing with former West Indies captain Brian Lara, Tendulkar opined that even a minor percentage of the ball hitting the stumps should be enough for the umpire to rule the batsman out.
What % of the ball hits the stumps doesn’t matter, if DRS shows us that the ball is hitting the stumps, it should be given out, regardless of the on-field call. That’s the motive of using technology in Cricket. As we know technology isn’t 100% right but neither are humans.#ENGvWI pic.twitter.com/8At80AtRs5
— Sachin Tendulkar (@sachin_rt) July 11, 2020
How many reviews in Test cricket?
Talking about the number of reviews available in a Test innings, fans are still unaware about a latest rule change which has allowed teams an extra review per innings across formats.
It is worth mentioning that the ICC (International Cricket Council) had amended as many as five rules to aid players while playing in the COVID-19 era. A change in the number of reviews was done to minimize errors with local umpires officiating post the coronavirus outbreak.
“The CEC [ICC’s Chief Executive Committee] has also confirmed an additional unsuccessful DRS review for each team in each innings of a match, keeping in mind that there may be less experienced umpires on duty at times.
“This will increase the number of unsuccessful appeals per innings for each team to three for Tests and two for the white-ball formats,” read ICC’s statement.
Therefore, the number of reviews available to a team in a Test innings is three as compared to two before the COVID-19 break. In simple words, a team will have three reviews each while batting and bowling in the first innings of a Test match.
As far as the white-ball formats are concerned, a team will have two reviews (as compared to one previously) each while batting and bowling in a match.
