Listen, if you’ve watched cricket in the last 10 years, you’ve had that moment. The stadium is on its feet, holding its breath; the big screen flashes OUT or NOT OUT in angry red letters; and some guy in a box 5000 miles away decides the fate of a Test match. That’s the DRS for ya.
Before its invention we had to put up with the howler. You remember. Sachin given out LBW to a ball pitched a foot outside leg by an umpire. We’d yell at the TV and go on. Now? Now we get to yell twice.
I have been following this system since it was this clunky experiment in 2008. Honestly, knowing the DRS Rules in Cricket is just as important as knowing what a googly is. If you’re still shouting “how is that not out?!” at Hawk-Eye, this one’s for you.
And if you follow the game beyond just watching—maybe you track stats, follow odds, or keep an eye on platforms like mahadev book betting while the match is on—then knowing these rules isn’t just trivia. It totally changes the way you read the game.
What Is The Decision Review System In Cricket?
Alright, let’s keep this simple. The Decision Review System in Cricket is cricket’s equivalent of asking for a second opinion. It is in fact a technology-based system where players can challenge the decision of an on-field umpire and third umpire can correct blatant mistakes.
It wasn’t made to make umpiring perfect. That is the first thing people get wrong. It was built to correct the apparent mistake. The ICC still says the umpire on the field is the boss; DRS is simply there to keep the king from having a really bad day.
It uses a bunch of toys:
Ball Tracking (Hawk-Eye): That cool graphic showing where the ball would have gone. Great for LBW.
UltraEdge / Real-Time Snicko (RTS): That wiggly line that shows you if the ball kissed the bat or the glove. You hear that little bit of a spike.
HotSpot: Infrared cameras to show where the ball landed. That little white dot. Still there, just not everywhere now.
High-speed cameras: For run-outs, stumpings, and low catches.
All of that adds up to about 30 seconds of pure drama.
Basic DRS Rules In Cricket That You Should Know
Here’s where it gets a little technical, but I’ll break it down like a friend would, not like an ICC manual.
1. How many reviews will you get? And Do You Retain Them?
This is the one that confuses everybody at the club.
In Tests each team has two unsuccessful reviews per innings. In ODIs and T20Is you get one per over. unsuccessfully.
If you review and it stands with the on-field umpire, what they call Umpire’s Call, you keep your review. You lose it, you lose it.” If you get it right and the decision is overturned you keep it.
They changed that a couple of years back. You lost it even on Umpires Call earlier. Fans didn’t like it. This seems fairer now. You’re only punished when you’re clearly wrong.
And no, the reviews do not transfer over. Use it or lose it per over. That’s when the pressure is really on the umpires—at 89.3 overs in a Test when both sides have used up their reviews.
2. Who May Ask? And When?
Only the batsman who has been given out or the captain of the fielding side can ask. And they have 15 seconds. Fifteen. And that’s it.
You’ve seen it—the captain looks at the bowler, the bowler looks at the keeper, the keeper doing some crazy windmill impression saying ‘it was pad first!’ and the captain makes a T with his hands.
If they take too long, the umpire just says no. No T-signal, no review. You also can’t review after the next ball has started. Just that small bunch, eh? It has to be quick.
3. DRS Rules in International Cricket For Various Formats
This is where DRS rules in international cricket get a little quirky because the ICC likes to mix things up.
DRS is available from ball one in Tests. Same for ODIs and T20Is. But DRS was not a mandatory thing for a long time because the technology is expensive. Now, almost all international games have full DRS, especially ICC events.
One big difference: Teams are super defensive in T20s with just one review. Captains don’t review a stone dead LBW in the 6th over because they are thinking, what if we need it in the 19th?” And they never have to use it. Classic.
Plus, for the World Cup and other big events, there’s a different panel and stricter protocols. The third umpire has more camera angles and the entire process is timed. They hate dead air on TV.
4. LBW Review Rules in Cricket – The Actual Headache
Right, let’s be honest. 90% of DRS drama is LBW. The **LBW review rules in cricket** are what everyone debates about in the pub.
Here’s what the third umpire actually does to check it:
First, was there bat in it? “They go to Ultra Edge. If there’s a spike when ball passes bat it’s not LBW. Full stop.
If no bat, then where did it land? In cricket, for the Decision Review System, the ball has to be in line or outside off to be considered. Never go out if it’s pitched outside leg stump. Always It has always been the law.
Then, where did it hit the pad? Impact must be in line with the stumps. Unless the batter wasn’t swinging. If he is shouldering arms, outside off impact can still be out. That little rule has saved so many openers and fucked so many openers.
And finally, would it hit the stumps? This is where Hawk-Eye is used. And this is where Umpire’s Call is.
Umpire’s Call is when the tech says it’s too close to call. For ball tracking, the on-field decision stands if less than 50% of the ball is hitting stumps. If the umpire gives it out, it’s out. If he does not give it out, it does not stay out.
That’s why you’ll hear commentators say, “It’s clipping so it’s going to stay with the umpire’s call.” It’s not the tech saying it’s not out. It’s the tech saying, ‘I’m not quite sure, so I’ll back my teammate out on the pitch.’
DRS is human to me because of Umpire’s Call, I think. Without it, we’d just have robots for umpires.
5. What About Caught Behind and Edges?
This one is easier but still catches people. UltraEdge rules.
But there is a procedure. The third umpire has to match the audio spike with the video frame. You cannot have random noise. It has to be exactly when the ball passes the bat.
And what if there’s no clear spike? They are not out of the woods. They need definitive proof to overturn. “Maybe there was a feather” doesn’t count.
No more for those low catches. Oh, low catches, the soft signal rule. Remember the soft signal? The on-field umpire would give a soft “out” or “not out” before going upstairs. They dropped it in 2023 because it was confusing everyone. Now the third umpire just rules on what he sees. No hint from below.
6. Run Outs, Stumpings, No Balls
DRS is not just LBW. There’s not much grey area around run-outs and stumpings. Third umpire gets a side-on camera, zooms in, checks whether bails are off, whether foot is behind the line. That’s the easy part of his business.
For no-balls, here’s something cool—in international cricket now, the third umpire automatically checks every ball for a front-foot no-ball. So you don’t even have to review it. If a wicket falls off a no-ball, they’ll pull it back. Remember how that happened a lot in the T20 World Cup 2021?
Some leagues also allow batters to challenge a wide call now? Not yet in international cricket. But the WPL and IPL have begun it. Could get into international soon.
What No One Tells You
Few little nuances about DRS Rules in Cricket which makes watching more fun.
If you’re watching the game live on an app—and plenty of score-followers do check live data on things like mahadev app download options for updates—you’ll see that the review graphic comes up faster than the broadcast. The apps get the ball-tracking data almost in real time.
Also, the DRS clock doesn’t stop for injury. I’ve seen a game in Mohali, batter got hit, physio came out and fielding side still lost their review window for being late with the T. Harsh but that’s the rule.
And my favourite: A batter can be ruled out on review for a different mode of dismissal than the one reviewed. And so you look for LBW and UltraEdge shows you nicked it and you’re out caught behind. You can’t say “but I only reviewed LBW!” Out is out.
To be honest, even after all these years, I still get nervous when that ball-tracking shows three reds. There is something so final about it.
Why DRS Continues To Divide The Dressing Room
Ask any former player. Some like it, some don’t.
Virat Kohli looked quite unhappy with the Umpire’s Call for a while. Umpire’s Call is perceived as robbing bowlers, especially the spinners like Ashwin and Nathan Lyon. Batters feel the opposite.
Truth? DRS rules in international cricket are never going to satisfy everyone. The objective wasn’t to make perfect decisions, it was to get rid of the howler. And on that it does work. How many shockers did we have in the 90s, eh? That’s not anymore.
Is it slow? Sometimes, yeah. A full LBW check may take up to 90 seconds. That is a lifetime in a T20.” But I will take the 90 seconds and not lose a World Cup semi-final on a bad call.
The tech is also getting better. UltraEdge is much more sensitive now than it was in 2015. Ball detection is more accurate. Perhaps Umpire’s Call will be obsolete in 10 years.
Final Word Before You Start Writing That Next Review
If you’re new to this, don’t get bogged down in the graphics. Just remember the basics of DRS rules in cricket: two reviews in Tests, one in white-ball. You keep it if you’re right, or if it’s Umpire’s Call. For LBW, it’s bat first, then pitch, then impact, then hitting.
Knowing that, you see the game differently. You’re calling what the third umpire is going to say before he says it. You are that annoying friend who says “that’s umpire’s call, not out” two seconds before it happens. I know I am that friend.
Cricket remains a human game. DRS is just there to make sure the human errors aren’t big. And for those of us who live and breathe every ball, be it watching at the stadium, at a tapri in Pune or tracking it online and logging in through a Cricket Betting Login to follow our fantasy picks, that little bit of fairness in the DRS rules in cricket matters. Keeps the game honest.
That’s really the beauty of it.
DRS Rules in Cricket: FAQs
1. What are the current DRS Rules in Cricket for number of reviews?
In Test matches each side has two unsuccessful reviews per innings. Each team can have one unsuccessful review per innings in ODIs and T20Is. If the review is Umpire’s Call, the team keeps the review.
2. What is Umpire’s Call in the Decision Review System in Cricket?
Umpire’s Call, when the technology shows a marginal decision, i.e. less than 50% of the ball hitting the stumps in an LBW review. In these cases, the original on-field umpire decision stands and the team that made the review does not lose a review.
3. What are the main LBW rules in cricket?
The third umpire looks at 4 things in this order: 1) Is there a bat in it? (Ultra Edge) 2) Was the ball pitching on line or outside off? (never off the outside leg) 3) Was the impact in line with the stumps? (unless no shot was made.) 4) Would it have hit the stumps? (Hawk-Eye ball tracking)
4. Can a player be given out for a different reason on DRS?
Yes. If a batter reviews a lbw decision and UltraEdge shows a clear edge, the third umpire is entitled to give him out caught behind. The review looks for any dismissal, not just the one appealed.
5. Are the DRS rules different for different formats in international cricket?
Basic rules are same but number of reviews is different (2 in Tests, 1 in white-ball). Plus ICC events have full mandatory DRS including automated front-foot no-ball checks, whereas some bilateral series earlier had limited tech due to cost.
6. How long does a team have to decide to take a DRS review?
The captain or batter must call for a review (making a T with both hands) within 15 seconds of the on-field umpire’s decision. If they do not, the review cannot be taken.
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