10 July,2010 06:56 AM IST | | A Correspondent
The controversial Decision Review System will not be implemented in the forthcoming India vs Sri Lanka Test series which starts in Galle on July 18 because the Indian cricket board was not in favour of it.
"The decision at the ICC meeting was that both the teams should agree with having the DRS system. When we checked with India, they were not happy to have it," Sri Lanka Cricket secretary Nishantha Ranatunga told Cricinfo.
On whether the absence of DRS would be a disadvantage to the host country, Ranatunga said:
"Definitely it will be a disadvantage. Not only for Sri Lanka, it's a disadvantage for India as well. It's a disadvantage for all the players."
In its recent annual conference, the ICC had said that the host country would determine whether to use DRS in home Test series following consultation with the visiting country.
The DRS was used during India's last Test tour of Sri Lanka in 2008. India lost that series 1-2 and the Indians felt they were hard done by through the review system. Several pundits reckoned the real reason for India's loss was the inability of their batsmen to cope with mystery spinner Ajantha Mendis. It came as no surprise that India did not use the review system when the Lankans toured India last year when India won 2-0.