New Delhi: The BCCI on Wednesday slammed ICC General Manager Dave Richardson for criticising skipper Mahendra Singh Dhoni as the latter had expressed his grouse on the UDRS system.
In a hard-hitting letter to the ICC Chief Executive Haroon Lorgat, BCCI Secretary N. Srinivasan said Richardson has no business to criticise Dhoni and he should be instructed not to do so in future.
"BCCI takes strong objection to David Richardson criticising Dhoni. Richardson's comment that the Indian captain should know the rule is out of place. The Indian captain only highlighted the inadequacy of the system and rightly so. It was there for the world to see. Mr Richardson has no right to do so," Srinivasan said in the letter.
Dhoni had questioned ‘adulteration of technology with human thinking’ when England batsman Ian Bell was ruled not out off a Yuvraj Singh delivery even after TV replays showed that the ball would have hit stumps, leading to Richardson asking the Indian captain to read the rules related to UDRS first before criticising it.
Srinivasan went on the say that Richardson's comments on the issue was tantamount to pressurising Dhoni when the World Cup is going on. "For ICC's representative to criticise a player for his post match press conference while the World Cup is being played tantamount to pressurising the player. BCCI has strong reservations about the statement made by Mr Richardson. He should be instructed not to react in this fashion," he said.
The Cricket Board pointed out that it had consistently opposed the UDRS and it is still not convinced about the technical adequacy of the system. "BCCI has consistently opposed usage of Umpires Decision Review System (UDRS). BCCI has not been convinced about the technical adequacy of the system. A presentation made by Hawk Eye to BCCI where Mr S. Venkataraghavan, former International Umpire and Director of Umpires, was present was not convincing and the supplier of the technology themselves felt 'a leap of faith' was necessary in order to accept the system.”
"The inadequacy of the UDRS has been exposed in the CWC 2011. The group stage match between India and England was a case in point, which clearly brought out the inadequacy of the system. ICC in consultation with Hawk Eye formed playing conditions which specifies when the umpire can rely on Hawk Eye and when he cannot. This itself is an admission on the question of reliability of the system including ball tracking technology."