Chennai Super Kings were left fuming as the unavailability of the Decision Review System (DRS) cost them two wickets in the initial phase of their IPL 2022 match against Mumbai Indians at the Wankhede Stadium here on Thursday.As soon as he was given out lbw to a delivery that looked going down the leg-side to the naked eye, CSK's Devon Conway looked at the umpire and consulted his opening partner Ruturaj Gaikwad, who went on to speak to the umpires. But Conway trudged back to the dugout without taking the help of the video umpire as he was told that DRS was not available due to technical reasons.
A couple of overs later, Robin Uthappa was given lbw to Jasprit Bumrah and he too checked with the umpire whether he could review it or not and was sadly told that was not possible. Though Uthappa's case looked more straightforward, the fact that the batter can't utilise the facility of the video umpire made for strange viewing.Neither the Board of Control for Cricket in India (BCCI) nor the broadcaster Star Sports have given any reason for the unavailability of the DRS, but various reasons were being cited some by the commentators and others on the social media on why the video umpire could not do what he is supposed to do, in this match.
One of the reasons cited was that the DRS was not functioning due to power failure in the stadium. Though there was some issue with floodlights before the toss, the fact that the match was going ahead in the floodlights meant power failure may not be the reason.Another reason cited by some people in the press box was a short circuit damaging the system on which DRS was functioning. But whatever the reason, Chennai Super Kings could not be faulted for feeling let down by the system as they could not use the DRS.Even if the DRS was available later, one is not sure whether it could be used straight away as that would mean the two teams will play the match in different playing conditions.