Ranji Trophy 2021-22 Final | Lack of technology in the final is questionable

The Decision Review System (DRS) has become an integral part of the game since it came into effect in 2008, despite its minimal inaccuracies.

The ongoing Ranji Trophy 2021-22 final between 41-time winners Mumbai and Madhya Pradesh shows a concerning lack of this technology.

Speaking about the decision, an unnamed Board of Control for Cricket in India (BCCI) official told the Times of India that the board has more faith in its umpire than the system.

He said, "We believe in our umpires,"

International umpires KN Anantha Padmanabhan and Virender Sharma are officiating in the Ranji final in Bangalore.

A former player advocated that one should trust the on-field umpires and that the DRS system is an extremely expensive affair.

He adds, "It's an expensive exercise to use the DRS. The costs shoot up. How does it matter if there's no DRS in the final. It's time we trusted the umpires. India's two best umpires are officiating in this game. And what's the end result? If you use it in the final, you will want to introduce it in the league stage of the Ranji Trophy,"

Another player explained how acquiring the DRS and implementing it is a task.

"The rigging (wiring) and derigging of all the equipment will be extremely costly. HawkEye means extra cameras needed. Ranji is done with limited equipment. The argument will then be that why not for all televised games. Look, you can't have a half-baked DRS. The last time, it was used for limited replays to see if there's an edge or not. You can't use the ball trajectory — a critical element of DRS" he explained.

Day One had already witnessed an incident where Mumbai's Sarfaraz Khan survived a close LBW appeal off Gaurav Yadav that DRS could have overturned.

At the end of the play, Mumbai were 248 for 5, with Khan and Shams Mulani batting on 40 and 12 runs, respectively.