The Board of Control for Cricket in India (BCCI) has tweaked a few rules for the IPL 2025 season, starting March 22.
One big change is that players can now use saliva on the ball again. This rule was put in place back in May 2020 as a COVID-19 precaution and was made permanent by the ICC in September 2022. IPL chairman Arun Dhumal told ANI that the saliva ban is over.
A lot of fast bowlers weren’t thrilled with the saliva ban because it made it harder to get the ball to reverse swing. Since white-ball cricket uses two new balls, reverse swing isn’t as common as it used to be. Bowlers could only use sweat to shine the ball, and many wanted the saliva rule changed.
Also, captains won’t be suspended for slow over rates anymore. For instance, Mumbai Indians skipper Hardik Pandya was suspended for a match in IPL 2024 against the Lucknow Super Giants (LSG) because of a slow over rate.
The Impact Player rule, which came into play in IPL 2023, is sticking around. This rule lets teams sub out a player during the match, which adds another layer to team strategy.
All these adjustments are likely to shake up how teams plan and play in the IPL.
