The Board of Control for Cricket in India (BCCI) has begun internal discussions on the possible introduction of the Decision Review System (DRS) in domestic cricket, though there is no formal decision yet. According to a report by Cricbuzz, the matter was discussed during the Apex Council meeting held online on December 22, marking the first concrete step towards evaluating the idea.
BCCI officials have remained non-committal on whether DRS will be rolled out across domestic tournaments. However, members of the Apex Council were informed that the office-bearers will examine the suggestion further, indicating that the proposal is now on the board for detailed consideration.
The biggest challenge in implementing DRS in domestic cricket is the high cost involved. The ICC-approved Hawk-Eye technology currently used for DRS can cost $10,000–15,000 per match day, which translates to nearly Rs 9 lakh per day at the lower end. With the BCCI conducting over 1,500 domestic matches every year, and several of them running simultaneously, the total number of match days is significantly higher.
As per estimates discussed at the meeting, adopting Hawk-Eye for domestic cricket could push the annual cost beyond Rs 150 crore, making it a financially demanding proposition even for the world’s richest cricket board. The BCCI has acknowledged this concern and conveyed to the Apex Council that such a large-scale rollout would require careful evaluation.
At the same time, the BCCI is also exploring indigenous DRS technology. It is learnt that a system being developed by a group of IIT graduates could cost around $2,000–3,000 per match day, substantially lower than Hawk-Eye. However, officials noted that the accuracy, reliability and speed of this indigenous solution are still under testing and verification.
While the introduction of DRS in domestic cricket may not be imminent, the discussions suggest that the BCCI has formally initiated the process of examining its feasibility.
