The Board of Control for Cricket in India is all set to rope in IT giant Microsoft for software solutions that will evaluate and help improve the performances of its umpires.
"The deal is not finalised yet, but we are in the final stages of negotiations with Microsoft," BCCI Marketing Sub-committee Chairman Lalit Modi told reporters in New Delhi on Saturday.
"We zeroed in on Microsoft after looking at several technological solutions," Modi, also a Vice-President of the BCCI, said.
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.
Indian team's cricket analyst Ramakrishnan's expertise has also been sought in this regard, M P Pandove, another member of Marketing Committee, said.
BCCI's efforts come in the wake of the recent observation by ICC General Manager-Cricket Dave Richardson that Indian umpires were not upto international standards.
No Indian has been on the ICC Elite Panel of Umpires since former Test captain S Venkataraghavan retired in 2003.
