Umpire to be assigned specifically to check front foot and waist-high no-balls in IPL 2020

The IPL Governing Council (GC) meeting took place on Tuesday at the BCCI Head Quarters to discuss a slew of issues ahead of the next season. The meeting was chaired by the new IPL chairman Brijesh Patel and the GC is planning to have an umpire assigned specifically to call front-foot and waist-high no-balls during the IPL next season.

The umpires had committed a number of howlers in the last season when it came to calling the no-balls. Even the RCB skipper Virat Kohli had expressed disappointment openly after one of the matches. The on-field umpire had missed calling the front-foot no-ball off the last ball of the game which eventually cost RCB the match against Mumbai Indians. The issue was the talking point in the meeting and if everything goes as per plan, we might witness a specific umpire to check only no-balls.

“If all goes well, during the next Indian Premier League, you could see another umpire apart from the regular umpires just to “observe” no-balls. The concept sounds weird, but this was among the issues discussed in the first IPL Governing Council meeting which was held here.

We want to use technology. We are having another umpire for only observing no-balls. There will be an umpire, who will be focused on no-balls only. And he will not be the third or fourth umpire,” a senior GC member was quoted as saying by Outlook India. It is also being reported that this idea could be tried in one of the domestic tournaments before implementing in the IPL.

‘Power Player’ concept to not go-ahead in IPL for the time being

Meanwhile, it was also reported that the ‘Power Player’ concept will be introduced for the next season in which team had to announce the 15-man squad ahead of their match. And any player outside the playing XI but within the announced 15 can be substituted at the fall of a wicket or at the end of the over. The same was also discussed in the meeting but the idea was shelved for the time being.

If approved, the concept was set to be trialled in the upcoming Syed Mushtaq Ali Trophy. But the timeframe to implement in the T20 tournament was very less which led to the idea was being shelved for now. Speaking about the same, the official said, “The matter was discussed but there is too little time to implement during the Syed Mushtaq Ali Trophy, which starts on Friday, November 8.”

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