BCCI makes massive rule changes in Indian cricket a night before Ranji Trophy 2024-25 starts

Significant changes have been brought up by the Board of Control for Cricket in India (BCCI) ahead of a long domestic season in India.

The changes will affect the use of saliva on the ball which will impact ball tampering, mid-innings retirements, boundary scoring, and many more.

These changes will begin with the country's premier first-class competition Ranji Trophy, which is set to start from October 11 (Friday). The teams will play their first-round matches of the competition from this date.

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Strict rules for applying saliva

According to Cricbuzz, the BCCI has made it compulsory to change the ball immediately if saliva is applied. Furthermore, the team responsible for this breach will face penalties. The move will also help in reducing the cases of ball tampering.

Mid-innings retirements

The report further states that any batter who will retire for reasons other than injury, illness, or unavoidable cause will be considered out. The batter will not be allowed to bat again in the same innings without the consent of the opposition captain. The rule applies to both red-ball and white-ball cricket.

"A] 25.4.3 Batter retiring for any reason other than injury, illness or unavoidable cause: He will be considered as dismissed immediately on retirement and will NOT have the option of returning to bat even with the consent of the opposing captain," the BCCI mandate, which was shared with the state board, stated.

The BCCI has also given a clarification regarding the boundaries after aborted runs. If the batters abort a run after crossing each other and there is an overthrow after the re-cross resulting in a boundary, just four runs will be awarded despite the batters crossing each other.

The revised law states, "Once the batters decide to abort a run after crossing and a boundary results from an overthrow before they have re-crossed, only boundary 4 shall be scored."

Points allotment in Col. CK Nayudu Trophy

Col. CK Nayudu Trophy is a domestic cricket championship played in India between the Under-23 teams from several states and regions. There have been some changes in the points allocation for this tournament as well. The BCCI has provided two scenarios regarding the rule changes:

Scenario 1: "Team 'A' batting 1st is all out for 398 in 98 overs in the 1st innings (They will get 4 batting points). Team 'A' while fielding gets awarded 5 penalty runs as a result of which Team A's score now becomes 403 in 98 overs. Team 'A' will now get 5 batting points."

Scenario 2: "Team 'A' batting 1st is all out for 398 in 100.1 overs in the 1st innings (They will get 4 batting points). Team 'A' while fielding gets awarded 5 penalty runs as a result of which Team A's score now becomes 403 in 100.1 overs. They will not get the 5th batting point."

BCCI divides Ranji Trophy in two halves

The Ranji Trophy will be played in two phases this season to help the players cope with the intense fitness levels required for red-ball cricket. Additionally, it will also help the tournament cope with the harsh winter season in northern India, which badly affected the tournament last season.

The Vijay Hazare Trophy and Syed Mushtaq Ali Trophy have been sandwiched in between the two halves of the Ranji Trophy by the BCCI for the better arrangement and performance of the players.