DRS made mandatory, India accepts modified version

Accepting the BCCI's disapproval of the ball-tracker technology, the ICC has unanimously agreed to make a modified version of the Decision Review System (DRS) mandatory in all international matches.

(Read: What is DRS?)

The ICC's chief executives' committee took the decision on the second day of the five-day annual conference in Hong Kong. (See Pics: Technologies used in cricket)

"The BCCI has always expressed its willingness to embrace technology, for the betterment of the game. However, the current ball-tracking technology, on which the DRS system is based, is not acceptable to the Board," BCCI Secretary N Srinivasan said in a statement.

"The CEC also decided that the continued use of the ball-tracking technology as a decision-making aid, will depend on the bilateral arrangement between the participating teams," he added.

The mandatory terms and conditions for the DRS will now consist of thermal imaging or Hot Spot and sound technology. The ball-tracker has been removed from the ICC's original compulsory list of DRS technologies.

This means that India will be using the DRS during the England tour which starts in July. However, the series will be without the Hawk-Eye ball-tracker and therefore not include LBW decisions. India had last used the DRS in 2008 against Sri Lanka.

"The leg-before decision for that series will be completely that of the on-field umpire," BCCI president Shashank Manohar said.

A decision about how the cost of using the DRS technology would be divided will be taken later. According to the ICC that figure is close to $5000 per day, with a maximum of $25,000 being spent on DRS per Test.

However, BCCI vice-president Niranjan Shah had said that the cost of using the DRS was $60,000 per match.