Cricket Rules: New ODI Rules

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Recently, you must have been reading or hearing about captains complaining about the new One Day International (ODI) Cricket rules. So what are these new ODI rules? Let's have a very quick look.

New ODI Rules:

1. Power-play rule change:

Since the inception of the 'Power-play' rule, as explained in Powerplay Rule in Cricket, it has been an added headache for teams and captains. There were 3 power-plays earlier; first between over number 1 and 10. It was termed as mandatory power-play. Then there were P1 and P2 each of 5 overs. Batting and fielding teams had option to choose when to take assigned power-plays after mandatory power-play was over.

Now according to new rule, mandatory power-play (between first 10 overs) will remain as it is. After this power-play, there will be only one power-play of 5 overs, which should be completed before 40th over of innings and that can be called by batting side.

2. Fielding restrictions:

Earlier, in non power-play overs, fielding team was allowed to keep 5 fielders outside 30 yard circle. Now, the changed rule allows only 4 fielders outside the 30 yard circle.

This change is largely debated currently. Impact of this rule is on bowlers. Since only 4 fielders are outside the circle, bowlers have less protection against big shots. And it will be comparatively easier and encouraging for batsmen to play big shots.

But few experts feel that with the introduction of this rules, the non power-play Cricket will be more exciting than what it was, because batsmen will take extra risk of playing big shots, and this will give a window of opportunity for bowlers to take wickets.

Cricket Rules - No Ball

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Know, if you know the No Ball!

Do you remember the second last over of KKR vs CSK IPL 2012 final, when Bisla –after scoring blitzkrieg and Kallis – were back to the dugout. CSK had a real hope to win the title clash. Ben Hilfenhaus was bowling the crucial last ball of 19^th over – 7 balls remaining, 16 still runs required. Tik tik – tik tik and he bowls a ball which Shakib ul Hasan plays in the air – gets caught – and meanwhile umpire calls it a NO BALL for ball above waist height. Between all these commotions, batsmen completed 2 runs. Then, equation became 7 balls remaining, 13 runs to get (1 run of no ball + 2 runs that batsmen ran). The extra ball that required to be bowled fetched another 4 runs for KKR thanks to Shakib for that leg glance, simplifying the equation to 9 runs from 6 balls. Rest is history now!

No Ball Signal

The NO BALL was, in effect – 1 delivery bowled and 7 runs scored! This was, for me, the one of the costliest errors made by CSK bowlers. The No Ball can be this much harsh. What are the different scenarios in which an umpire can call a ball- No Ball? What do the rules say? It is simple, is it? Are you sure about the simplicity? Let’s check it out!

The 7 laws of a NO BALL

1.       Right hand – over the wicket!

  A.      Oh Yes, the umpire shall make sure whether the bowler intends to bowl right handed or left handed, over or round the wicket, and shall so inform the striker. It is unfair if the bowler fails to notify the umpire of a change in his mode of delivery. In this case the umpire shall call and signal No ball.

  B.      Underarm bowling shall not be permitted except by special agreement before the match.

Powerplay Rule in Cricket

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Nowadays, when you check the scoreline for an ODI match, shown mostly at the bottom of TV screen, you see characters such as 'P1', 'P2' or 'P3'. Or when we listen to the commentators, we hear phrases such as 'mandatory Powerplay', 'batting/ bowling Powerplay'. Now all these rules come under the category of 'the field restrictions'. ODI innings is divided into parts where there are certain rules, restrictions for the field placement such as number of fielders on a particular side, distance of fielders from batsman in certain overs etc. This field restriction rules are a little complex to understand. But when to get the idea, it becomes easier to understand the strategy of captains as to why they place certain fielders at certain place only. Or why Powerplay are taken instantly or delayed. Let's looks at what rules say:

• In any Powerplay/ non Powerplay over, there cannot be more than 5 fieldsmen on the leg side.
• In non Powerplay overs, there cannot be more than 5 fielders outside the field restriction area.
• Once a side nominates a Powerplay, the decision cannot be reversed.

The 30 Yard Circle

How is the field restriction area is marked? Two semi-circles, with 30 yard radius, are drawn on the field of play with center of the middle stump at either end of the pitch as their center. And they are connected by two parallel lines. (Many a times you must have heard ‘the 30 yard circle’- this is the area commentators refer to!) This - the field restriction area - is shown in blue color in adjacent picture.

During the first block of Powerplay Overs, only two fieldsmen are permitted outside this fielding restriction area. Two fieldsmen should be within the 15 yard from the batsman on strike (15 yard aread marked by the dotted circles, mostly seen as white discs on ground). However, this 15 yard restriction is not observed if fielders are standing in slip, leg slip or gully position. This is the ‘mandatory Powerplay’, as in, no team has any choice about its selection, always taken between over  number 1 to 10 i.e., at  commencement of an innings , marked as ‘P1’.

Obstructing the Field

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India versus Australia, the 10th ODI of CB series being played on the bright Sunday Morning at beautiful Sydney. And there comes the 6th ball of 23rd over. The situation is- Wade plays ball to short covers and calls for a single run. David Hussey responds and takes off to the other end. Meanwhile- the lightning in field, Suresh Raina, picks up the ball single handed and throws to the end of wicket-keeper where David Hussey is running. While throw is in the air- travelling towards Dhoni, Hussey, who meanwhile reaches between the line of throw to the stumps, and stops it with his right hand- and completes the run. No sooner did Dhoni see Hussey stopping the ball, than he appealed to the square leg umpire with reference to the "Obstructing the Field" law of Cricket.

The umpires on field, very experienced, Simon Toufel and Billy Bowden went up stares for the Decision Review System and called 3rd umpire to make the final decision. Indian camp was together- making a huddle- almost pretty sure of decision. But after watching several camera angles and almost 3 to 4 minutes of reviews, the 3rd umpire- S.D. Fry came with decision that Hussey is Not Out! There was huge uproar from the Indian supporters in the ground and also a few words exchanged between Hussey and his best mates in Indian team ;-) . So, it was definite that Hussy had stopped ball using his hand, and still was not given out. What does the law say?

Meanwhile, Warner made an attacking half century.

Here it goes-

Cricket Rules - dimensions of ground

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Highest individual scores in ODIs

Above list of 13 highest top scorers in ODI format is quite interesting one. It has great batsmen, tremendous strike rates, involvement of test playing nations (well, almost). And now, gradually, shift your attention to the right most column-‘Ground’. What do you see? 9 out of 13 scores are in Indian subcontinent - 5 out of those 9 are in India itself! Now, what does that mean? What triggers batsmen so much that they love to score such big scores in Indian subcontinent?

Few reasons:-

• Subcontinent pitches are flat – batsman friendly
• No much movement either through seam or swing for fast bowlers
• List includes majority of players playing in known home conditions
• Batsmen are just too great – it’s obvious they scored these big scorers

All the above points can be arguably agreed upon. Thought, there is one more point which I want to discuss is size of ‘Grounds’. As you know, most of subcontinent grounds are smaller as compared to the grounds in England, South Africa. Grounds in Australia, I believe, are largest. Now this certainly brings one question in my mind. Why there is difference in dimensions of cricket grounds across the world? And what guideline has ICC/ MCC set for dimensions of cricket ground?

Game Changer Rules like Power Play, UDRS, Free hit in ODI Cricket!

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This is the time when Test cricket is played like One day cricket and One day cricket is immensely  influenced by Twenty 20 cricket. With the incredible popularity of the Twenty 20 format of the game, it was a great need to make changes in the format of ODI cricket too. The aim before ICC was to make ODI games more exciting and attract more audience towards game. Keeping this in mind, few rules have been modified and introduced in the ODI cricket. Lets see what are the Game Changer Rules in ODI cricket.

1.Power Play:

Earlier there used to be fielding restrictions for the first fifteen overs in an inning, where only 2 fielders could  be outside the 30 yard circle and compulsorily 2 fielders had to be in close catching position. This rule is now modified and it is replaced with Power Plays. Every team is keen to take an advantage of the power plays, where mostly attacking batsmen try to play aggressive shots and score quick runs at lower risk of getting caught out due to the field restrictions. The aim of the fielding side captain is to restrict batting side from scoring quick runs in power play overs. Therefore, fielding captains use their best bowlers in this period. Fielding side has one advantage of getting quick wickets in power plays as batsmen are in attacking mood and while doing so they may loose wickets in this period. For the overs when power play is not opted, maximum five fielders can be outside the 30 yard circle.

Now, there are three types of power plays.

LBW: Howzz Daat...?

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Leg Before Wicket aka LBW is one of the most complicated rules of the cricket. Normally we cannot guess whether the LBW appeal will be accepted (given out) or rejected (given not-out). One of my relatives recently asked me if I know this rule and then I decided to share it with you all as well. The rule is complicated as I told you but I have tried to make it as simple and easy to understand as possible, of course, with the help of diagrams. I will finally make you understand what should be given out and what not!

WIDE BALL wide ball

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I have been following cricket for around 2 decades and I came across various rules of cricket. Few were easy to understand, few were not. But one thing, I am not able to understand is the differences  between the wide balls! That's the subject of this post, in fact a question to all of you regarding this. Why there is difference in lengths of wide balls?