Fanie de Villiers slams Dhoni for rejecting UDRS

It's time for that debate yet again. Like a batsman waiting for the green signal to continue batting, Cricket South Africa (CSA) anxiously waited yesterday to know whether it would be allowed to use the controversial Umpire Decision Review System (UDRS) in the forthcoming three-Test series against India. As it turned out, they were shown the red light by the Board of Control for Cricket in India (BCCI), which was quite expected.


"I like UDRS and it does eradicate a lot of decisions that are wrong, which can only be good for the game. But, we are not going to use it and that's the end of it," South Africa coach Corrie van Zyl said. "I'm not disappointed, I almost knew it was not going to happen. In any case, it will still be a very good series," he added.

The decision hasn't gone down well with former Proteas quickie Fanie de Villiers. "There is evolution taking place in every walk of life and cricket is no different. UDRS belongs to that evolution," he told MiD DAY. "It disturbs me that players are allowed to make decisions. There are enough people who have eaten, slept and studied cricket over the years. They should take the call.

"Players shouldn't be allowed to influence the game," he said, referring to senior India cricketers Mahendra Singh Dhoni and Sachin Tendulkar, who have openly criticised the decision, and in turn influenced BCCI's verdict on the usage of the umpire referrals.u00a0

De Villiers further delivered a blow to the India skipper: "I always thought Dhoni was a positive individual with a sound cricketing brain. I cannot understand why he continues to be against the referral system. Obviously, he is not a big thinker of the game. How can he oppose evolution?

"Four or five wrong decisions can be vital. Even if UDRS is not foolproof, at least it can take away 80 per cent of the bad decisions. I would have taken many more wickets if UDRS was around in my days," said De Villiers, who claimed 85 wickets in 18 Tests.

Meanwhile, former India coach Anshuman Gaekwad blamed the International Cricket Council (ICC) for allowing boards the choice to use UDRS: "ICC must put its foot down. There's no reason why are they giving BCCI or any board the option of using it or not. That's not how cricket should be run. It is being used in the Ashes right now, so it should be used in this series (SA vs India) too."

A BCCI official justified the decision: "We go by advice of senior cricketers. Most of them have opposed the system, so there's no question of going against them. In the end, it was a unanimous decision by both boards. Also, most of the boards have opposed the system; only Australia and England have supported it in the past."

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