Microsoft for Indian umpiring problems

The Board of Control for Cricket (BCCI) in India is all set to take assistance from Microsoft, the IT giant, for software solutions that will evaluate and help improve the performances of its umpires.

The poor standards prevalent in Indian umpiring has been a growing concern, with not a single Indian umpire part of the Elite Panel. The recent efforts come in the wake of the recent statement by Dave Richards, the General Manager-Cricket of the International Cricket Council (ICC), that Indian umpires were not upto international standards.

"The deal is not finalised yet, but we are in the final stages of negotiations with Microsoft," Lalit Modi, the vice-president of the Indian board, was reported as saying in a Press Trust of India report. "We zeroed in on Microsoft after looking at several technological solutions."

Microsoft's task will be to provide a software that will help evaluate the performances of the men in white coat whose every decision in the domestic circuit will be under scrutiny from the next season. Based on the recommendations of the Umpires Committee, the BCCI had earlier decided to record all domestic championship matches - from the Ranji Trophy league level to the championship final and the Challenger Series.

Six cameras will be employed at every match and the video footage will be analysed by the software. MP Pandove, a member of the Marketing Committee of the board, added that S Ramakrishnan, the Indian team analyst, will also help out in this regard.

No Indian has been on the ICC Elite Panel of Umpires since former Test captain S Venkataraghavan retired in 2003. Whether these new steps will change the situation remains to be seen.