Phil Hughes LBW: DRS Delivers Another Mistake?

The DRS was in question throughout the series between India and England, with even the senior commentators like Ravi Shastri and Nasser Hussain getting into a near-spat on television over it. In the ongoing first Test match between Sri Lanka and Australia at Galle, it has come under scrutiny on more than one occasion and the panel of umpires have now indicated to the ICC to have a look at Phil Hughes’ dismissal.

Hughes had been given out lbw in the second innings to Tillakaratne Dilshan, which was then challenged by the batsman. To the naked eye in the slow-motion replays, the ball seemed to have pitched on the middle-stump and turned viciously enough to miss the off-stump; or at best clip the off-stump.

However, the Hawk-Eye showed the ball to go straight on with the arm and take the leg-stump, a grave error in the judgement from the system.

On the third day of the game, there was controversy as well, when Kumar Sangakkara was given not-out by the on-field umpire to an lbw appeal. The decision was reviewed and the ball was shown to be pitching outside leg-stump whereas the naked eye told a totally different story.

All of this means that the system may need a revamp or some kind of a modification in its use. There is a school of thought that points to using the DRS for only the glaring errors, the exact reason for what it was first brought into the equation – inside-edges for lbw and to check where the ball has pitched.

Another line of thought also carries forward from the previous one, which says that the right to appeal must be taken away from the fielding team’s hands and only the umpire should be allowed to decide on whether or not the DRS needs to be used.