MUMBAI: The Board of Control for Cricket in India has revised playing conditions ahead of the 14th season of the Indian Premier League.
The BCCI, in a letter sent to all the eight IPL teams, has put in place two major rule changes – reduction of playing time for each innings to 90 minutes aimed at controlling over rates, and removal of the on-field soft signal.
“As a measure to control the match timings, the 20th over in each innings is now included in 90 minutes, earlier the 20th over was to start on or before the 90th minute.” the BCCI stated in its letter, which was accessed by Cricbuzz.
“The minimum over rate to be achieved in IPL Matches shall be 14.11 overs per hour (ignoring the time taken by time-outs). In uninterrupted matches, this means that the 20th over should finish within 90 minutes (being 85 minutes of playing time plus 5 minutes of time-out) of the start of the innings. For delayed or interrupted matches where an innings is scheduled to be less than 20 overs, the maximum time of 90 minutes shall be reduced by 4 minutes 15 seconds for every over by which the innings is reduced.” the letter adds.
As far as timing is concerned, the BCCI has entrusted the responsibility of ensuring the rule is enforced on the fourth umpire, empowering him to warn the batting side if it resorts to time-wasting tactics.
“In the event of any time allowances being granted to the fielding team under clause 12.7.3.4 above (time wasting by batting team), then such time shall be deducted from the allowances granted to such batting team in the determination of its over rate. The fourth umpire should ensure that the batting captain (if not at the wicket) and the team manager are both aware of any warnings,” the letter further reads.
With regard to the soft signal rule, BCCI said the on-field umpire’s signal will not have any bearing on the decision of the third umpire.
“The third umpire shall determine whether the batsman has been caught, whether the delivery was a bump ball, or if the batsman willfully obstructed the field. In case of a fair catch, the third umpire will use all the technological support available to him/her. The third umpire shall communicate his/her decision,” the letter states.
The BCCI also amended the short run rule. Now the third umpire can also check the on-field umpire’s call on short runs and can overturn the original decision.
The 14th season of the IPL will kickstart on April 9 with defending champions Mumbai Indians locking horns with Virat Kohli’s Royal Challengers Bangalore at the Chepauk.
