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‘Once the series is over we will sit down and think how important DRS is and how much do we want to use it’
India Test captain Virat Kohli made it clear that the issue regarding the use of the controversial Decision Review System (DRS) needs to be deliberated after the end of the ongoing three-Test series against Sri Lanka.
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India lost the first Test from a winning position by 63 runs, getting bowled out for 112 in the fourth innings.
The debate about India not using the DRS again started after Man of the Match Dinesh Chandimal, batting on 5, was adjudged not out off a bat-pad catch off Ravichandran Ashwin's bowling by umpire Nigel Llong.
Replays, however, showed a thick inside edge onto pads before being snapped by KL Rahul at forward short leg.
Chandimal's 162 proved to be the game-changer.
In fact, Kohli was honest enough to admit that there is no point debating on the DRS when his players have not batted well.
"We are not using it in this series. It is not an issue that I would want to debate on at the moment. Once the series is over, we will sit down and think how important is it and how much do we want to use it," said Kohli, making his point clear at the post-match presentation ceremony.
"We only have ourselves to blame for the way we played at the moment. Don't want to get into the debate of DRS or some other issues in this particular game. I think we should stick to how badly we played today," added the skipper, brutal in his assessment about the harakiri created by his batsmen on the fourth morning.
Interestingly, Kohli had said after the one-off Test against Bangladesh in Fatullah that he was "open to discussions on DRS with the team".
His stance was then seen as a marked departure from ODI skipper Mahendra Singh Dhoni's stance of not having the DRS unless the technology is "100 percent foolproof".
After Kohkli's comment in Fatullah, BCCI president Jagmohan Dalmiya issued a statement making it clear that the status quo persists as far as the DRS was concerned.
"It is clarified that the stand taken on the Decision Review System (DRS) by the Board of Control for Cricket in India (BCCI) remains the same as on date," a statement from Dalmiya read.
But Dalmiya's statement also indicated that they are open to discussion.
"But that does not mean we would not be open to discussions internally on whether the DRS could be used partially or in its modified version during bilateral series," Dalmiya had said.