BCCI gives go-ahead to use DRS system during India and England Test series

India have agreed to trial the decision review system (DRS) in their upcoming five-match Test series against England, starting in November. The side, now coached by former leg-spinner Anil Kumble, participated in the first-ever game involving umpire reviews, against Sri Lanka in 2008 – but have subsequently become reluctant to use the technology.

In particular, the Indian side were concerned by the ball-tracking aspect of the technology, which is used to determine whether the ball would have hit the stumps in lbw cases. But Kumble recently visited the Massachusetts Institute of Technology in the US to learn more about the much-discussed system.

"We are happy to note that Hawkeye has institutionalised all the recommendations made by BCCI [The Board of Control for Cricket in India], and we confirm that this improved version of DRS will be used on a trial basis during the forthcoming series against England," Anurag Thakur, the BCCI president, said in a statement. "Based on the performance of the system and the feedback that we will receive, further continuation in forthcoming series will be decided."

The BCCI's major concern with the DRS system has been addressed by the introduction of Ultra Edge, which eliminates the possibility of another touch after the first impact of the ball distorting the predicted path.

"Earlier, there was a possibility that the operator would have missed a delivery and hence an lbw appeal could have been missed," the BCCI explained. "Now, Hawkeye has developed the technology to record and save all images so that in case an operator fails to arm the tracking system, the images can be rewound and replayed."

India's first Test against England starts in Rajkot on 9 November. The tour will consist of five Test matches, three one-day internationals and three T20 internationals.