DRS in NPL 2026 Explained: Reviews, Ball Tracking and Edge Detection
For the first time, NPL captains can challenge the umpire. Here is how DRS works this season, in plain words.
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Remember all those NPL games where a plumb lbw was given not out and everyone just had to live with it? That stops this season.
CAN has confirmed DRS will be used in every NPL 2026 match. Republica broke the news on 20 October, and The Kathmandu Post later filled in how many reviews teams get.
How many reviews?
Two unsuccessful reviews per team, per innings. If your review is correct, you keep it. If you get it wrong twice, you are out of reviews for the rest of that innings.
What the technology does
There is ball tracking for lbw, the familiar animation showing where the ball would have gone. There is also edge detection to work out whether the ball touched the bat on its way to the keeper. The Post described the package in detail.
The umpires can also use replays for run outs, stumpings and front-foot no-balls. Those are the umpire's own referrals, so they do not cost a team anything.
Not every graphic is DRS
You will also see six distances and extra bowling stats on the broadcast this year. Those are fun, but they are just numbers for the viewers. Nobody is reviewing how far a six went.
The bit I find interesting
Reviews make captains think. Use one too early on a hopeful appeal and you might not have it when a genuine howler comes along in the 18th over. Watch the bowler, the keeper and the captain huddle before the signal. That little chat often tells you more than the appeal itself.
It will probably be a bit slow in the first few games while everyone gets used to it. That is fine. Fewer wrong decisions in a tournament this short is worth a minute or two.
The season starts on 26 October. Follow every game on our match centre.
