On this day 13 years ago in 2008, the Decision Review System (DRS) was used for the first time during the first Test match of the three-match series between India and Sri Lanka. The historic Test match was played at the Sinhala Sports Club (SSC) ground in Colombo, Sri Lanka.
Veteran Indian spinner Harbhajan Singh was the first to use DRS. Then, Indian skipper Anil Kumble opted to go for the DRS on Harbhajan’s lbw appeal against Malinda Vernapura of Sri Lanka, as it was turned down by the on-field umpire.
However, India’s first review was not successful as Warnapura remained not out. Warnapura scored 115 runs in 202 balls for his side. Interestingly, he was later dismissed by Harbhajan.
Meanwhile, Tillakaratne Dilshan was the first batsman in the history of the game to continue batting after being declared out by the on-field umpire. After being given out, Dilshan challenged the umpire’s decision and was given not out after going up.
However, this was a controversial decision as later, the snick-o-meter (then not used in the review process) showed that the Sri Lankan batsman had actually touched the ball with his bat before being caught behind by the wicketkeeper.
Later, during the Indian innings, veteran opener Virender Sehwag became the first cricketer to go back to the stands as part of the process.
The match was not a memorable one for India as they lost by an innings and 239 runs. When asked about the post-match DRS, Kumble said it is still an experiment and needs to be reviewed further.
On the other hand, Kumble’s counterpart Mahela Jayawardene was in support of the technique used in international cricket.
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