Pakistan Vs South Africa: Explained: How the DRS video referral works in case of close LBW decision | Cricket News

The Decision Review System, also called the DRS or video referral, once again became a topic of debate on Friday when an LBW decision was arguably the difference between a win and a defeat in the ICC World Cup match between Pakistan and South Africa in Chennai.
South Africa seemed to be cruising towards the target of 271 at the MA Chidambaram Stadium, when Pakistan bowlers upped their game to take five quick wickets to reduce the Proteas to 260/9 from a comfortable 206/4.
Eleven runs needed by South Africa in 4.3 overs and just one wicket between Pakistan and a win put the game on a knife’s edge. That’s when a controversial moment arrived.Haris Rauf was bowling to tailender Tabraiz Shamsi in the 46th over and the ball thudded into Shamsi’s pads. However, the umpire turned down Pakistan’s appeal for an LBW.
Skipper Babar Azam asked for a review. The replays showed Shamsi adjacent to the stumps when the ball hit his pads, but the ball tracking was not in the bowler’s favour as the ball’s trajectory showed it to be just clipping Shamsi’s leg-stump.

The on-field umpire’s ‘not out’ decision was upheld, after which Keshav Maharaj hit spinner Mohammad Nawaz for a four to signal South Africa’s victory.

While the South Africans celebrated, the DRS call and its rules were hotly debated on social media, when an old video from an India vs England Test match resurfaced on microblogging website ‘X’ (formerly Twitter), where the ex-England captain Nasser Hussain explained why the ‘umpire’s call’ is required to make up for the margin of error in technology.
WATCH

WHAT IS DRS?
It is a system that uses technology to help match officials in decision-making.
The on-field umpires may ask the third umpire to check on video replay to assist in a decision, and the teams can also opt for the same (maximum of two times each per innings) if they want an on-field umpiring decision to be reviewed.
The ‘snickometer’, which checks if the ball edged the bat or not, and the ‘ball tracker’, which checks the trajectory of the ball to decide if it is going to hit the stumps or not are the two main softwares used in DRS.

WHEN WAS DRS IMPLEMENTED
Introduced in November 1992 as third-umpire decisions, video-replay assistance was initially available only to the match officials and started as means to help in ruling close run-out calls. Later, it was renamed as DRS, when it was provided as an option available to the teams as well as the on-field umpires.
DRS introduction:
Tests – 2008
ODIs – January 2011
T20Is – October 2017