Cricket fans across the world are eagerly waiting for the 14th season of the popular Indian Premier League (IPL), and with only a few days left for the matches to start, fans have taken to social media to express their excitement. If all goes well, the IPL will start from April 9, 2021, however, cricket fans will get to see some new rules.
It is said that the cricket board has issued new rules for the tournament, whereby each team has to finish its innings in 90 minutes. Furthermore, the board has also decided to remove the soft signal. According to these new rules, the strength of the third umpire will now increase.
The BCCI has sent a mail to all the eight teams which contain the necessary information about the new rules. As per the letter sent to the teams, “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”
It is believed that the move has been taken in the interest of the umpiring so that the third umpire does not face any difficulty in announcing the decision. Furthermore, it will also help in avoiding the controversy arising out of the umpire's decision. This also means that the on-field umpire will no longer need to give a soft signal to the third umpire for help.
Another important change is in regards to slow over rates. Each team will now get only 90 minutes including time out to finish their 20 overs.
According to the order, each team must complete the innings in a speculated time, which as per the earlier rule, was to start the 20th over of each innings at the 90th minute. However, experts say that the times have changed, and as per these guidelines, each team will have to bowl an average of 14.11 overs per hour, and this will not include time-out. With this, there will be 85 minutes for the game and 6 minutes for time out.
Timekeeping has been an issue with IPL from the time the series has started. In the past too, teams have been penalised using hefty monetary fines and even suspension of the bowling team's captain for slower bowling. There has been no change in these fines, however, if any team is seen wasting time, in that case, the umpire is empowered to give instructions or warnings to the batsmen. In addition, he has been given the power to enforce the rule as punishment.
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