Ranji captains conclave: Introduction of DRS, dropping coin toss among suggestions made

The introduction of Decision Review system in Ranji Trophy and doing away with the concept of coin toss were among some of the suggestions put forward by the captains and the coaches of the domestic teams during a conclave conducted by the BCCI, here Friday.

DRS has been so far restricted to international cricket but the call to introduce it in domestic structure has grown following poor umpiring decisions in the last Ranji Trophy season, which saw a significant rise in the number of matches with the addition of new teams.

During the conclave, the captains and coaches called for the introduction of DRS with the available technology for televised (television and digital broadcast) Ranji Trophy games.

Multiple umpiring howlers marred the Ranji semifinal between Saurashtra and Karnataka, last season. Key batsman Cheteshwar Pujara was ruled not out despite a huge nick and his century changed the course of the match.

There was also discussion on doing away with the coin toss and letting the visiting team make a decision to bat or bowl first.

The captains and coaches also deliberated over the relevance of Duleep Trophy and the Irani Trophy.

"With the domestic structure now involving 37 teams, a discussion was held on the relevance and significance of Duleep Trophy and the Irani Trophy and opinion on the same was sought," a source who attended the conclave, said.

It was also discussed if knockout games of Ranji Trophy should be on home-and-away basis or at neutral venues.

To improve the standard of the games, suggestions were made regarding the "introduction of evaluation reports by Match Referees about umpires" and "evaluation of Match referees by the umpires."