Where is the UDRS?

The Black Caps have predictably been beaten comprehensively by India in the first test match at Hyderabad. Mike Hesson's reign as coach has begun in the worst possible fashion.

But if one thing has emerged from this match, it is the need for the ICC to man up, and either demand that India adopts the Umpire Decision Review System (UDRS), or scrap it altogether.

Let's be frank; New Zealand got the rough end of the stick in this match, especially in the second innings when they were following on on a wearing pitch. Martin Guptill was given out LBW by umpire Ian Gould when not playing a shot; always a dangerous thing to do, or not do! But replays clearly showed that the ball from Indian spinner Pragyan Ohja was turning past the off stump.

Brendon McCullum and Kane Williamson batted resolutely through the morning session. But their defiant stand was cut short by Australian umpire Steve Davis soon after lunch. McCullum got a huge inside edge onto his pads, and was mortified when given out LBW. This is precisely the type of umpiring howler that the UDRS is designed to detect, but it quite literally changed the course of the match.

We are not making excuses for the New Zealand batsmen; the Indian bowlers were simply too good for them. But the one productive partnership of the match for New Zealand was sawn off by a very poor piece of umpiring.

The ICC cannot put this in to too-hard basket any longer. Either every cricketing nation endorses the UDRS, or it should be scrapped. But the current impasse between the ICC and the India Board of Control cannot be allowed to continue and fester; it is destroying the great game of cricket.