The 2020 IPL is now less than 2 months away and the IPL governing body has released information that outlines some of the key changes they have made for the coming season as well as some of the proposed changes that they have rejected.
IPL All Stars Game – March 29
One of the biggest changes that fans will welcome will be the addition of the first ever All Stars game. If you are an NBA fan, you will be familiar to the All Stars concept. The best players from all franchises get together to face-off in an All Stars game mid-season in the NBA.
BCCI President Sourav Ganguly will follow a similar concept for the IPL All Stars inaugural match but this game will take place ahead of the IPL 2020 season. The IPL All Stars match is set to take place on March 29. But no further details have been released by the BCCI as of now.
The venue, captains and playing XI for these games should be announced this month. The BCCI will group franchises from the South and West to face off against the North and East.
Dedicated Umpire For No-Balls
The governing committee has confirmed that they will try a 5th umpire who will be a dedicated umpire to check no-balls during the tournament. This will be a welcome addition to IPL franchises and captains who complained last season over the lack of consistency when it came to no ball calls. V Kohli who captains the Royal Challenges Bangalore (RCB) was one of the main critics and the BCCI has taken his feedback and decided that a 5th umpire is the way to go.
The addition of the 5th umpire is likely to slow down the game but eliminate all no-ball howlers.
IPL Games Will Start At The Same Time
One of the proposed changes that the IPL governing body had to consider was an early start. Most games start at 8 pm and usually end up going on till 12 midnight. These discussions took place between the IPL committee and broadcaster Star India and a suggestion was made to start the games at 7 pm. However, the franchises were not in favour of an early start as they believed the dew factor would come into play only during the second innings and give one of the teams an unfair advantage.
As a result, the proposal for an early start was dropped. The other change to the 2020 IPL timings will be just four day games during the entire IPL season. Franchises have requested in the past to reduce the number of day games since the IPL takes place during summer.
The BCCI is yet to release an official schedule of the 2020 IPL as there is still a few issues that need to be sorted out. A final schedule is expected to be released during the first week of February.
Concussion Substitutes
The IPL governing body has also introduced concussion substitutes for the first time in 2020. If a player suffers a concussion on the field, then the team has the option of introducing a like-for-like substitute. This will be subject to the approval from the match authority. If there is no like-for-like replacement, it is highly likely that the concussion substitute will not be approved.
MS Dhoni Stays With CSK At Least Till IPL 2021
MS Dhoni is expected to make his return at the 2020 IPL and will captain Chennai Super Kings as usual. CSK franchise owners have thrown their support behind MSD and confirmed that they will retain Dhoni for the 2021 edition.
