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DRS will always be controversial: MacGill

Last updated on: January 1, 2012 19:05 IST

Former Australian leg-spinner Stuart MacGill feels the Decision Review System will remain controversial whether it is used or not but the prerogative to use the technology should remain with the on-field umpires and not the players.

"The DRS, or its absence, is going to prove controversial and I would encourage you all to take sides, because you'll have more fun if you can argue about it. And there are two sides to my own opinion," MacGill said.

'Players must respect the umpires' decision'

Last updated on: January 1, 2012 19:05 IST

"First, you can't blame the BCCI for not using the DRS. The ICC decided to allow its members to make a choice and they did. They know decisions will go for and against them. Second, despite the fact that Aleem Dar, one of the best umpires inthe world, has called for the DRS to be uniformly adopted in all international series, I have a major problem with it."

"I have always been told that the umpire's decision is final. If we're going to use the DRS it has to be the umpire's decision to refer it upstairs or we shouldn't use it at all," MacGill wrote in his column for The Age.

The leg-spinner also said the players must respect the umpires' decision.

"It's often said that sportsmen can be incredibly selfish, and maybe a player's response to an unwanted umpiring decision is further evidence of this."

'Indians are well within their right to reject DRS'

Last updated on: January 1, 2012 19:05 IST

"That being the case, it still doesn't give players an excuse for questioning an umpire's decision. Whenever I crossed the line, I knew that after play I would be spending some time in the umpires' room and possibly some time on the sidelines," he further wrote.

MacGill said the Indians are well within their right to reject DRS for its limitations but the players of his era would not have hesitated to use the technology.

"...They have probably been focusing too much on human error. But I guarantee you that if any of us had a chance to use technology to eliminate those mistakes, we would jump at it," he said.