Instead it has almost become a ploy for the bowlers. Strike the pad, don't worry about beating the bat, and you're in business.
When Pakistan trounced England 3-0 in the United Arab Emirates this month, there were 43 lbw dismissals - 11 by offspinner Saeed Ajmal, eight apiece for left-arm slows Abdur Rehman and England's Monty Panesar. India have been against the DRS - primarily the predictive path technology and also Hot Spot - ever since they made a dog's breakfast of the first series in Sri Lanka and barely got an appeal right.
The International Cricket Council says the DRS cannot be used in a series unless both sides agree to it.
That has led to a hotch-potch situation where anything involving India is off limits, but fine with everyone else.
Sportspeople are fond of saying their biggest wish is consistency in decision-making, but there's no consistency in the use of the DRS, which is a nonsense.
Now, the ball-tracking technology used by Hawk Eye and Virtual Eye, the ICC's accredited systems, is to be re-examined at Cambridge University in May.
A company called Computer Vision Consulting Ltd is checking the levels of accuracy and reliability, and the results are expected to be with the ICC's cricket committee before its next meeting that same month.
What the DRS has shown is that before its introduction, and using the batsman's-benefit theory, many players have had second, or third innings after being given, er, the benefit. These days it's accepted that if a run-out looks close then the batsman will almost certainly be out.
But the idea that the DRS would simplify curly decisions is not borne out in one respect. It is essentially designed to back the umpire's verdict.
Two deliveries pitch in the same spot. One, appearing to be hitting less of the stumps, can be given out; the other, which might seem to be striking more, is not, based on the umpire's initial decision.
That is where batsmen are shaking their heads as they trudge back to the pavilion. Cricketers unhappy with umpiring decisions? Plus ca change.
The ICC's general manager of cricket, former South African wicketkeeper Dave Richardson, said having communications between the on-field and third umpires during a DRS discussion on TV is a long-term plan.
"Hopefully, when the umpires are so confident in the system and so well versed in using it, we will be able to do that. That's the aim," he said.
Just first make it work more effectively and less controversially. That would be a start.
