'Two Bouncers Per Over': BCCI Announces Major Rule Change for Mushtaq Ali Trophy; IPL Next?

The BCCI held its 19th Apex Council meeting in Mumbai on Friday and made a host of announcements including a couple of rule changes it plans to introduce for its domestic T20 tournament Syed Mushtaq Ali Trophy.

To restore some balance between batters and the bowlers in the T20 format, the board has decided to allow two bouncers per over.

So far, as is the rule in the format, only one bouncer is permitted.

“The BCCI has decided to introduce two bouncers per over in the upcoming Syed Mushtaq Ali Trophy to balance the contest between bat and ball,” the board said in a media release on Saturday.

Considering how the Impact Player Rule made its way into the Indian Premier League after successfully being implemented in SMAT, the two bouncers per over rule could make its way into the franchise tournament.

Meanwhile, BCCI has tweaked the Impact Player rule which it first introduced in SMAT 2022.

The modified version, used for IPL 2023, will now be used in the upcoming edition of SMAT as well.

“The teams will have to select their playing XI along with 4 substitute players before the toss,” BCCI said.

In the previous season of the Syed Mushtaq Ali Trophy, a team could only use the Impact Player before the 14th over of an innings. However, the compulsion has been removed.

“The teams can use the Impact Player at any time during the match,” the released stated.

The BCCI shall will be upgrading stadiums in two phases.

The first phase will involve the venues that will play host to matches during the 2023 ICC Men’s World Cup 2023 and it’s expected to be completed on time before the marquee event slated to be held in October-November.

The remaining venues will be upgraded in the second phase.

The BCCI has also given its approval to send both the men’s and women’s cricket teams for the Asian Games 2023.

“…considering the overlap of schedule of the Asian Games with ICC Men’s Cricket World Cup 2023, BCCI will select from the players not participating in the World Cup to play in the Asian Games,” BCCI secretary Jay Shah said in the release.