How many reviews in Test cricket: Have number of DRS reviews changed in the COVID-19 era?

Dixit Bhargav | 17/07/2020
How many reviews in Test cricket: Have number of DRS reviews changed in the COVID-19 era?

How many reviews in Test cricket: The number of DRS reviews in Test cricket has changed after the COVID-19 pandemic.

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.

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.

Post Edited By: Dixit Bhargav
DRS Test cricket West Indies tour of England 2020

About the author

Dixit Bhargav

Born and brought up in Pathankot, Dixit Bhargav is an engineering and sports management graduate who works as a Cricket Editor at The SportsRush. Having written more than 10,000 articles across more than five years at TSR, his first cricketing memory dates back to 2002 when former India captain Sourav Ganguly had waved his jersey at the historic Lord’s balcony. What followed for an 8-year-old was an instant adulation for both Ganguly and the sport. The optimist in him is waiting for the day when Punjab Kings will win their maiden Indian Premier League title. When not watching cricket, he is mostly found in a cinema hall watching a Punjabi movie.

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