The last three years or so, the Indian Premier League (IPL) has been trying to reinvent the wheel. Be it with the controversial impact player rule, lifting of ban on bowlers from applying saliva, use of second ball to help the bowlers counter dew factor or the recent stringent on-field monitoring of bats to counter any unfair advantage for the batters.
Call them work in progress, but Arun Dhumal, the 46-year-old chairman of the richest T20 league in the world has shown the intent to provide the tweaks to a product which had been often of being biased towards the batters for too long.
The idea was to bring back the fairness of the game between bat and ball as there had been a lot of talk about the IPL being a batters’ game. Each decision, however, was taken with a lot of due diligence by our technical committee and the governing council:
What exactly are the most talked about changes this season? An innocuous looking ‘bat gauge,’ an instrument through which umpires were conducting spot checks on bats to ensure the specs of the equipment were alright caught the eye in the second half of IPL as a number of batters were made to change it after coming to the crease.
The bats used to be checked earlier too but these days, a player carries six to eight bats with him – so the umpires don’t know if he is using a different bat from the one checked on eve of the match.
“The use of saliva on the ball after the pandemic seems to be helping the bowlers retain the shine on the white ball and derive some reverse swing. The bowlers, especially spinners, cannot also complain about gripping the ball because of the dew factor,’’ remarked Dhumal, a former BCCI treasurer and young brother of Anurag Thakur, a powerful minister and former president of BCCI.
The introduction of ‘impact player’ from 2023 – where each team can replace one player from their playing XI with any player from the five impact subs named at the start of the game.
The changes are done as strategic substitutions where a player can bat or bowl full complement of four overs, but the biggest criticism about it is that it’s killing the role of all-rounders by introducing an extra batter or bowler as required.
A number of influential figures of IPL have voiced their displeasure with the impact player rule for a variety of reasons, with Rohit Sharma admitting to having a ‘mental disconnect’ by watching the game from the dugout for first 20 overs.
There has been a lot of chatter that with the impact player or impact sub coming in as an additional batter or bowler, it’s undermining the growth of the all-rounders. All I will say is it raises the bar for the all-rounders if you want to serve the team in both capacities.
In another much-needed move this season, the IPL decided to come down heavily on overseas players who would pull out at the eleventh hour citing ‘personal reasons’ – banning England’s new white ball captain Harry Brook for two years. Asked about it, Dhumal said they wanted to set an example as it messes up with a franchise’s gameplan for the season.
Teams pick players at auction with a particular strategy in mind. In case a player withdraws from the tournament without a genuine reason, it changes the whole gameplan of the impacted and also affects the tournament.
As the IPL turned an adult this year after having turned 18, what had been his impression about the fans’ response this year?
There is still some way to go but the in-stadia figures have been going through the roof. Yes, the harsh weather in some parts of the country have affected the enthusiasm at a few places but the overall interest level has been tremendous. We are thankful and glad.
