The new season of the Indian Premier League (IPL) will kick in on March 31. Just weeks before the start of the event, some new rules have been put in place by the BCCI. Now, the captains of IPL teams will be able to name their playing eleven after the toss instead of handing over team sheets before the spin of the coin, as reported by PTI.
According to playing conditions clause 1.2.1, “Each captain shall nominate 11 players plus a maximum of 5 substitute fielders in writing to the IPL Match Referee after the toss.”
“Other than set out in Clause 1.2.9 no player (member of the playing eleven) may be changed after the nomination and prior to the start of play without the consent of the opposing captain,” it added.
This effectively means that after the toss, if a skipper feels that he needs to change his eleven as per the demands of the situation, he is free to do that till the match starts.
Through this, the IPL is on the verge of becoming the second T20 franchise league after South Africa’s SA20 to allow teams to announce their playing eleven after the toss. In the SA20, whose inaugural season was held earlier this year in January-February, franchises initially wrote 13 names on the team sheets before announcing their final playing eleven after the toss.
The other significant change in playing conditions is penalising unfair movement by the wicketkeeper and the fielder if there is a shift in position before the batter meets the ball.
In the event of unfair movement by the wicketkeeper or fielder, either umpire shall call and signal a dead ball and inform the other umpire the reason for doing so. The bowler’s end umpire shall then “award the one-run penalty for Wide or No ball, if applicable or award 5 Penalty runs to the batting side. Inform the captain of the fielding side of the reason for this action. Inform the batters and, as soon as practicable, the captain of the batting side of what has occurred.”
An over-rate penalty will be enforced by allowing only four fielders outside the 30-yard circle for every over not completed in the allocated time.
The “impact substitution”, where a new player can be introduced during the match from the five designated substitutions, had already been announced by the tournament committee.
The 2023 edition of the IPL will begin with defending champions Gujarat Giants taking on four-time winners Chennai Super Kings on March 31 at their home ground, Narendra Modi Stadium in Ahmedabad.
(With agency inputs)
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