ICC To Permit Only 23-Member Squads For Global Events; No Standby Players Allowed

The International Cricket Council (ICC) has implemented a new rule of allowing only 23-member squad for every team participating in the global events. The latest revolution could impact the likes of India, Australia, and England, who notably name a large number of members while announcing their squads, who will take part in the ICC competitions. It has been learnt that the apex body of the sport decided to cut down the number to 23, contrary to the previous 25.

The big three – India, Australia, and England in most cases, send a massive number of touring party as compared to other teams. In an ICC event, the Englishmen took along 28 men along with them.

The Indian cricket team, which is touring New Zealand presently, also has 28 people in it. The bifurcation includes that of 15 players, four coaches, two throwdown specialists, one trainer, one physio, two masseurs, one manager, one media manager, and a logistics manager.

The rule has already come into force in the ongoing ICC U-19 Men’s World Cup in South Africa and the Women’s T20 World Cup in Australia which is slated to take place in Australia from the 21st of February.

Reportedly, there could be some problems in the men’s event later this year due to the new guidelines.

ICC Bring One More Rule In Effect:

ICC has further abolished the rule of carrying standby players for the global events conducted by them. This would mean that no team would have the luxury of naming players for contingency.

The selectors had named Dhawal Kulkarni as an extra bowler for the 2015 World Cup while Rishabh Pant was a back-up player for the Men in Blue in the 2019 World Cup before he got drafted because of an injury to Shikhar Dhawan.

It would be interesting to see how the major cricketing boards would react to the execution of this particular rule since they are used to having extra support staff, considering it’s a global event.