BCCI seems to be in a mood to try some new things in the Indian Premier League (IPL).
After the news came out yesterday that a unique concept of “power player” was going to be introduced in the tournament where the captains could use players out of their playing XI during a game, the SportStar quoted a BCCI source today saying that the board is also thinking about using an extra umpire to check the no balls.
The umpires these days don’t generally keep a look on the front foot no balls. Very rarely does a front foot no-ball gets called in real time.
It’s only after someone gets dismissed that the umpires go upstairs and confirm if it’s a legal delivery. Or the legality of the deliveries gets confirmed during the Decision Review System (DRS).
But, with a separate umpire being put to duty for the no balls, the legality of every delivery will be checked now.
The concept of the extra umpire might be implemented in IPL 2020 itself, but it’s not certain if the concept of “power player” that had grabbed headlines yesterday could be implemented in IPL 2020.
According to the BCCI source, the board is running out of time because for a new concept to be implemented in the IPL, it first needs to be properly analyzed in the domestic circuit and there might not be enough time for that.
There was a meeting of the IPL governing council today where all these points were discussed, but no decision on anything was taken.
“We are exploring all the options and a decision will be taken over the course of time. The idea is to make the tournament fan-friendly, and we will take every suggestion into consideration. But Power Player may not be used in the next edition of the IPL due to lack of time.” The BCCI source told SportStar after the governing council meeting.