India to use DRS for England series

India's long-standing opposition to the Decision Review System has softened, with the system to be trialled during the Test series against England later this year.

A successful trial could see the system used for Australia's four-Test tour next February and March, dates and venues for which were announced today by the Board of Control for Cricket in India.

India's long-standing opposition to the system – they have claimed that ball-tracking technology was not accurate enough, particularly for the sharp turn spinners extract on subcontinental surfaces – has largely been overcome thanks to improvements, aided in part by researchers from the fabled Massachusetts Institute of Technology.

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Hawk-Eye, the British company that is the propriety owner of the technology, travelled to India with officials from the International Cricket Council, to showcase the changes to the BCCI, prompting the change in stance.

BCCI president Anurag Thakur said Hawk-Eye had made improvements on the recommendations of the BCCI.

"We confirm that this improved version of DRS will be used on a trial basis during the forthcoming series against England and based on the performance of the system and the feedback that we will receive, further continuation in forthcoming series will be decided," Thakur said.

"We recognise the enhanced role of technology in sport and BCCI will lead such initiatives in coming days, and enrich the viewer experience."

The introduction of Ultra-Motion cameras, capable of capturing up to 340 frames per second, has eased BCCI concerns about the accuracy of calculating the predictive path on ball-tracking software.

The 'Ultra-Edge' system – known to Australian viewers as 'Real-Time Snicko' – which marries the Ultra-Motion footage with audio to further clarify the exact point of impact, was also seen as a vital step.

Ultra-Edge was first approved by the ICC for use as part of the DRS package some 12 months ago.

At the time, ICC chief executive Dave Richardson said India's refusal to use the DRS was a major stumbling block to the creation of a central fund to cover the cost of using the DRS to ensure uniformity across all international cricket.

"To me it's not such a big issue, whichever way you look at it cricket ends up paying for it. If the members are going to place it on the broadcasters to provide the technology then they may deduct the cost from what they pay the board," Richardson said in October 2015.

"Ideally we want to get to the stage of consistent application."

A successful trial and adoption by India would remove this stumbling block.

A built-in redundancy to the Hawk-Eye system, to ensure no deliveries are 'missed' due to operator error or the system being busy, has also eased a concern the BCCI carried.

BCCI secretary Ajay Shirke said: "We are convinced that such technology should be utilised in supporting correct decision making.

"While recognising that improvements in technology are ongoing, BCCI will continue to include any and all such path breaking interventions, to further the cause of the sport."