MS Dhoni: When skipper's anti-DRS stand cost India 112 runs in first ODI vs Australia

New Delhi: Had the MS Dhoni-led Indian cricket team been in favour of using the Decision Review System (DRS), George Bailey, who smashed 112 runs in the first ODI at WACA, would have been dismissed for a first-ball duck. (India's tour of Australia: See Full Coverage)

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The controversy once again sparked when Bailey gloved the first ball he faced from Barinder Sran behind the wicket, but while Dhoni immediately appealed, the bowler was not fully convinced and umpire Richard Kettleborough ruled it in favour of the batsmen. The replays suggested that the right-hander had clearly feathered the ball into Dhoni's hands.

It was a huge moment in the game as Sran had dismissed David Warner off the previous ball, and with Bailey's dismissal, the hosts would have been sent on backfoot.

 

Since India are the only country to not use the controversial system, Bailey was given a life and he made the best of it by slamming his third ODI ton. Bailey, along with Australian skipper Steve Smith, stitched a massive 242-run stand for the third wicket, which swung the match in their favour.

Speaking to reporters after India's five-wicket loss, the Indian skipper agreed that a third wicket then could have changed the course of the match but also made it clear that he wants to see the umpires take more correct decisions.

 

"It could have (changed the result of the game) but at the same time, we need to push the umpires to take the right decision. You have to see how many 50-50 decisions don't go in our favour. And it always happens that you have to take it but I am still not convinced about DRS," Dhoni stated what has been BCCI's stand on the issue for a long time now.

Dhoni then again explained what he thought about DRS in its present form.

 

"Ideally, DRS should be a decision making system. But there are quite a few deviations and even the makers agree with that. And in cricket, every inch matters not even inches, it's millimeters that matter.