Recent events pertaining to the 18th Indian Premier League have led stakeholders to decide that teams bowling second may alter the ball during evening games. In evening IPL 2025 matches, the IPL management has determined that the ball can be replaced after the 10th over of the second innings.
It is thought that this choice was made to help bowling teams deal with difficulties brought on by dew. You can ask the umpires for another ball change at any time, but the on-field umpires will have to decide these requests collectively. The ten franchises’ captains met with the captains on Thursday to finalize this decision. The playing conditions were on the agenda for the summit, which took place in Mumbai.
Until now, umpires had the only power to determine whether to alter the ball because of dew. According to reports, teams and their executives urged match officials to give the ball change rule more latitude. The new rule states that during the second innings of evening matches, umpires will allow a ball change at any point between overs 11 and 20. However, if the bowling side would rather keep using the original ball, no new one will be released.
Additionally, the ball that is added at any time after the tenth over will be just as worn out as the one that it replaces. The captain of the fielding team may request that the ball be changed. The replacement ball will not be chosen by the bowling team, though.
Andy Flower, the head coach of Royal Challengers Bengaluru (RCB), revealed that he supported the IPL management’s decision to modify the rules. He thinks that the implementation of this new ball-related rule will ensure that the IPL matches are fairly contested. In the upcoming IPL 2025 season, viewers will thus see a fair contest between bat and ball.
“I like the rule change on the captains electing when they can take a second ball in the second-half of the [second] innings. Changing the ball will make it an even and fair contest. And that’s what we are looking for. The people that make the rules under which we play the game of cricket and ground staff, preparing pitches, they are always looking for a fair balance between bat and ball. And in conditions where dew does affect games significantly, that’s a really good rule change and about time,” Flower was quoted as saying by ESPNcricinfo.
Varun Chakravarthy welcomes new rule
One of the front-line spinners for the Kolkata Knight Riders (KKR), Indian mystery spinner Varun Chakravarthy, praised the move as well. On Saturday, March 22, KKR will host RCB in the IPL 2025 curtain-raiser. Kolkata’s Eden Gardens will host the match.
