New Delhi: In what came as a sigh of relief for the skippers of the Indian Premier League (IPL), they won’t be serving a one-match suspension after three over-rate offences in a season. Moving forward with IPL 2025, such offences will only lead to a fine and field restrictions during an ongoing game. However, any sanction imposed before, i.e. until IPL 2024, would have to be served.
The call was taken at the captains’ meeting held in Mumbai on Thursday. However, this won’t affect Hardik Pandya who is set to miss Mumbai Indians’ opening game this season, against Chennai Super Kings on March 23, but this won’t be the case going further. Aligning the IPL code of conduct with the ICC code of conduct, the IPL governing council has introduced a demerit points system.
What does the rule say?
If a match referee imposes any sanction, it will result in demerit points. For example, a deduction of 25% of the match fee will result in one demerit point. The points will be valid for both players and team officials and will be accumulated and remain on the individual’s record for three years. The said player or any official could get suspended upon accumulation of these points.
“For every four demerit points accumulated, the match referee can impose a penalty, either in the form of a 100 percent fine or additional demerit points. These demerit points could convert into a match ban in the future but for slow overrate there won’t be a match ban,” PTI quoted a BCCI source as saying.
However, the sanction could be challenged as well by a player, team official or franchise, if imposed under Level 2 or 3 offences before the BCCI ombudsman. They will be able to appeal only after making a payment of Rs. 90 lakhs, which will be refundable only if the appeal is completely successful before the authorised person. It is to be noted that the sanctions imposed before the 2025 season will not be converted into demerit points.
The IPL captains won’t be suspended for over-rate offences anymore and instead will be given an improvised punishment. Here’s what was decided at the recently held captains’ meeting in Mumbai. Cricket Sports News: Latest Cricket News, Cricket Live Score, Sports Breaking News from Sports Today
