The opening Test of the 2024-25 Border-Gavaskar Trophy in Perth produced multiple contentious DRS decisions — with ball-tracking showing multiple 'umpire's call' moments that divided players and commentators about the technology's fitness for purpose.
The Optus Stadium pitch in Perth produced significant seam and bounce movement throughout the first BGT 2024 Test, and with it came a succession of DRS reviews that tested both the technology and the patience of both teams.
The most contentious batch of DRS reviews centred on LBW decisions where ball-tracking's 'umpire's call' zone — a 2.5cm diameter buffer on the edge of the stumps — became the deciding factor. Australia reviewed two LBW decisions that replays suggested were plumb; in both cases, the ball-tracking showed the ball clipping 'umpire's call' on the edge of the stumps, and the original decision stood. India had identical experiences with Australian appeals.
The broader controversy concerned whether ball-tracking technology — which produces a prediction model rather than actual footage of where the ball would have gone — was sufficiently reliable to resolve LBW decisions worth potentially 50-run contributions. Critics of the 'umpire's call' zone argued it was an admission of the technology's own uncertainty range, and that decisions within that zone should simply be determined by the original umpire rather than by a computer model with acknowledged margins of error.
The on-field umpires — Nitin Menon and Richard Kettleborough — were caught in the middle. Technically sound in their application of DRS protocols, they were nevertheless the faces of decisions that felt unsatisfying to both sides.
The debate foreshadowed discussions about whether a third-generation ball-tracking system — with greater predictive accuracy — was needed before DRS could be considered truly reliable for high-stakes decisions.
Multiple LBW reviews in first two days — ball-tracking central to each
Two Australian reviews show ball hitting umpire's call zone — original decision stands
India's reviews produce similar outcomes in their favour
Commentary debate about umpire's call zone appropriateness
BCCI and CA representatives raise DRS accuracy with ICC
“DRS is the best we have and I support it, but the umpire's call zone decisions are frustrating because you know the ball is hitting the stumps and yet the decision stands. That needs to evolve.”
“You trust the technology. Sometimes it goes for you, sometimes against. That's cricket now. You move on.”
The Perth DRS controversies fed into the ICC's ongoing review of ball-tracking technology. The 'umpire's call' zone — introduced to account for the technology's predictive uncertainty — was identified as a persistent source of frustration that the next generation of technology needed to address.
Multiple 'umpire's call' DRS decisions stood as the original on-field decision. India won the Test by 295 runs. The DRS controversies did not alter the match result but intensified the ongoing debate about ball-tracking reliability.
Australia vs New Zealand
1 February 1981
Greg Chappell instructed his brother Trevor to bowl the last ball underarm along the ground to prevent New Zealand from hitting a six to tie the match.
Australia vs India
7 February 1981
Sunil Gavaskar was given out LBW to Dennis Lillee off a ball that clearly hit his bat first. He was so furious he tried to take his batting partner Chetan Chauhan off the field with him.
Australia vs India
2-6 January 2008
One of the most controversial Tests ever — terrible umpiring decisions, racial abuse allegations, and India threatening to abandon the tour.