(Cricket News) This change in playing conditions was trialed during the 2023-24 Syed Mushtaq Ali Trophy, India’s domestic T20 tournament. Saurashtra veteran Jaydev Unadkat, who has played for various IPL sides and has listed his base price at INR 50 lakh (USD 60,000 approx.) for the IPL 2024 auction, has welcomed the change.
To facilitate a more even contest between bat and ball, bowlers will be allowed to deliver two bouncers an over in the IPL 2024.
“As a bowler, I believe it is very important to have that rule because it gives the bowler an extra advantage over batsmen. For example, if I bowl a slower bouncer, the batsman in the previous case is sure that no more bouncer is coming.
In this case, even if you bowl one slower bouncer in the first half of the over, you can use one more. Someone weak against bouncers will have to be more adept at it, which will give the bowler another weapon in their arsenal. Therefore, I believe it is a very small change with a huge impact.
The Impact Player regulation, which debuted in the 2023 Indian Premier League, will stay in effect. Under this rule, a team must list four substitutes at the toss in addition to their playing XI. They can designate any one of the four subs as their Impact Player.
The IPL has always restricted the number of foreign players per game to four per team. If a team names four foreign players in their starting XI, they can only bring in one Indian as the Impact Player.
If a team names three or fewer foreign players in their XI, they can bring in an overseas player as the Impact Player, but they must be one of the four substitutes named at the toss. The Impact Player rule has also somewhat reduced the value of allrounders, with players like Venkatesh Iyer, Vijay Shankar, and Shivam Dube primarily playing as bats for their teams last season.
The trading window is now closed, but it will reopen on December 20, the day following the mini-auction, and stay open for up to a month before the 2024 season starts. The final schedule for the 2024 Indian Premier League, which is expected to take place between March 22 and the end of May, will be revealed once the Election Commission has finalized the polling dates for the country’s general elections.
