The Board of Control for Cricket in India (BCCI) has made some big rules changes ahead of the Ranji Trophy 2024-25 season. The Indian domestic 2024-25 began with the Duleep Trophy and then most recently the Irani Cup.
The first big rule change by the BCCI is that this season, the Ranji Trophy will be divided into two phases to help players cope with the high levels of fitness required for red-ball cricket. Furthermore, it will help the competition deal with the harsh winter season in northern India, which hurt the tournament last season.
The BCCI has sandwiched the Vijay Hazare Trophy and the Syed Mushtaq Ali Trophy between the two legs of the Ranji Trophy to improve player arrangement and performance.
No applying saliva on the ball; penalties to be imposed
Another big diktat by the BCCI when it comes to playing conditions is that now it has been made compulsory to change the ball immediately if saliva is applied to the ball. Furthermore, the team responsible for this breach will face penalties. The move will also help in reducing the cases of ball tampering.
No more mid-innings retirements for casual reasons
According to the Cricbuzz report, any batter who retires due to causes other than injury, illness, or an unavoidable cause will be considered out. The batter will not be allowed to bat again in the same innings without the permission of the opposing captain. This regulation applies to both red-ball and white-ball cricket.
“A] 25.4.3 Batter retiring for any reason other than injury, illness or unavoidable cause: He will be considered as dismissed immediately on retirement and will NOT have the option of returning to bat even with the consent of the opposing captain,” the BCCI mandate, which was shared with the state board, stated.
The BCCI has also provided clarification on the boundaries following aborted runs. If the hitters abort a run after crossing each other and an overthrow results in a boundary, only four runs are awarded, despite the batters crossing each other.
The revised law states, “Once the batters decide to abort a run after crossing and a boundary results from an overthrow before they have re-crossed, only boundary 4 shall be scored.”
Changes have also been made to the points allocation system for the Col. CK Nayudu Trophy. This tournament is played in India between the Under-23 teams from several states and regions. There have been some changes in the points allocation for this tournament as well. The BCCI has provided two scenarios regarding the rule changes:
Scenario 1: “Team ‘A’ batting 1st is all out for 398 in 98 overs in the 1st innings (They will get 4 batting points). Team ‘A’ while fielding gets awarded 5 penalty runs as a result of which Team A’s score now becomes 403 in 98 overs. Team ‘A’ will now get 5 batting points.”
Scenario 2: “Team ‘A’ batting 1st is all out for 398 in 100.1 overs in the 1st innings (They will get 4 batting points). Team ‘A’ while fielding gets awarded 5 penalty runs as a result of which Team A’s score now becomes 403 in 100.1 overs. They will not get the 5th batting point.”
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