The Indian Premier League stands on the horizon as fans wait in anticipation for the commencement of the new season. The tournament is a few hours away from now as Kolkata Knight Riders are set to open their title defence against Royal Challengers Bengaluru at Eden Gardens on March 22.
The Board of Control for Cricket in India (BCCI) made a few changes to the rules for the new season which include the lifting of the saliva ban, implementing new-ball in second innings, hawk-eye rule for wides and no bans on captains for slow-over rates.
Some rules in IPL 2025 are not implemented in international cricket. Let us discuss them.
1 - Lifting of saliva ban rule: The BCCI has decided to do away with the saliva ban rule in IPL 2025. The ban on saliva usage over a cricket ball came into existence in all cricket due to the COVID-19 pandemic. Due to it, the players were not allowed to apply saliva to shine the ball and get a reverse swing. While the rule has been lifted in IPL, it is still in place in international cricket.
2 - Impact player rule: The impact player rule has also been part of the Indian cash-rich league since 2023. The rule lets a team use an extra player for a match apart from the 11 it chose to play with. This gives more flexibility to the teams, however, it reduces the impact of all-rounders. The rule is not part of international cricket.
3 - Second new ball in an innings: The BCCI implemented a new rule of bringing a second new ball in the second innings of a night match ahead of IPL 2025. The rule mitigates the advantage of the chasing team in the presence of dew. However, no such rule is observed in international cricket.
4 - Over-rate demerit point system: The IPL has changed its rule of banning captains for successive slow over rates in the tournament. Instead, the new rule will hand demerit points to the captains for slow over-rate. These points will be carried on for three years. In international cricket, a captain is penalised match fees for slow-over rates and not handed demerit points.
5 - Strategic time-out: In an IPL match, there are four strategic time-outs - two in each innings. The timeouts can be taken in between 6-9 overs by a fielding team and in between 13-16 overs by a batting side. In international T20Is, only a drinks break is allowed.
6 - Hawk-eye rule: The IPL 2025 will now see the hawk-eye rule being implemented for off-side and head-high wide balls. The technology that was used for judging waist-high no balls will be used for the off-side and head-high wide balls. This is also not part of international cricket.