The 14th edition of the Indian Premier League (IPL 2021) is all set to begin on April 9.
New team names, to new teammates to even new jerseys - the 14th edition of the Indian Premier League (IPL 2021) is all set to begin from April 9.
The T20 extravaganza bowls out with the opener between Royal Challengers Bangalore (RCB) and defending champions Mumbai Indians (MI) at the M.A. Chidambaram Stadium in Chennai.
The new IPL season means new sponsors for team jerseys. While some have decided to change their design of the kit, others have brought in new title sponsors.
However, with all these changes, there are certain rules that have also been changed to make the cash-rich tournament more competitive and to give cricketers and fans the best cricketing experience.
A look at these 5 rules changes that have been brought in for the upcoming season.
1. Soft Signal
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There has been a debate growing around the cricket fraternity over the "soft signal" decision made by the on-field umpire when referring a decision to the third umpire in case of a debatable call.
However, the controversies surrounding the issue, onfield umpire giving Soft Signal while referring the decision to the third Umpire will not be applicable in IPL 2021.
The decision to remove the soft signal has been taken by the IPL Governing Council so that the third umpire can make the best possible decision without keeping the on-field call in mind.
2. Short-run
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In the 2019 IPL, the short-run had become a huge point of debate after the match between Kings XI Punjab (now Punjab Kings) and Delhi Capitals (DC). The Preity Zinta-co-owned franchise had made an official complaint after her team ended up on the losing side.
So now with the rule change, in case of the short run, the third umpire will now check the short run and can overturn the decision made by the on-field umpires.
3. No-ball
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As per the updated IPL guidelines, the third umpire can overrule the no-ball decision made by the on-field umpire.
4. Super-Over
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Another updated clause in the playing conditions is that in an uninterrupted match, subsequent super overs can be played till an hour's time from the actual finished time of the tied matches (Clause 16.3.1).
5. Minimum Over Rate
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Previously, the match playing conditions suggested that "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 start 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."
However, according to Clause 12.7.1 in the new guidelines, the 20th over is included in the 90 minutes.
