Board of Control for Cricket in India Secretary Anurag Thakur on Sunday said that the national cricket board was open to "revisiting the Decision Review System (DRS) debate and expressed confidence that with the right kind of technology, a modified version of the DRS -- a system to review other modes of dismissals except the contentious Leg Before Wicket (LBW) -- was something BCCI could consider adopting," according to Kaushik Rangarajan of CRICBUZZ. The BCCI has "long known to be against the use of technology that was not foolproof, something Thakur reiterated." But, it would appear that the board's stance has "since softened, albeit slightly, in the wake of its conscious move to change the way it is perceived by the cricketing fraternity." Thakur: "I think when we talk about a technology, we look at perfection. If the system is not consistent, if it cannot predict the right trajectory all the time, then it is not perfect. We are happy to accept any system that can come close to the 100 percent accuracy." Thakur said he was "steadfast about his vision to change the cricketing fraternity's perception of BCCI as a corrupt and nefarious organization." He said, "I think it is very important to change the perception. ... Everyone knows we are a very well-run cricket body, but I think that these points never get highlighted. It is high time to create the right perception. We may have gone wrong in a couple of points, but it is time to learn from that and move ahead" (CRICBUZZ, 8/23). ZEE NEWS reported Thakur said the onus was on the Int'l Cricket Council to "convince them that it was 100 percent error-free." He said, "We need to see if the ICC can rise up to the challenge. Some aspects of the DRS like no-ball, bat pad catches and other reviews could be improved further and would be acceptable by us." Without taking the BCCI on board, the ICC "cannot afford the costs that come with introducing a universal DRS system" (ZEE NEWS, 8/24).
NO CRICKET WITH PAKISTAN: The PTI reported Thakur on Sunday "made it clear that there will be no cricketing ties with Pakistan until they stop giving shelter to mafia Don Dawood Ibrahim and not make attempts to indulge in dialogue with separatist leaders." He tweeted, "Dawood in Karachi. NSA wants to meet separatists here. Are you really serious about peace and you expect we'll play cricket with you?" The BCCI was scheduled to have a series with Pakistan in the UAE in December but Thakur "has made it clear that no cricketing ties will resume until cross border terrorism stops" (PTI, 8/23).
