Picture Credit: Twitter/@BBL
The KFC BBL's newly introduced "time out" rule was used in the third match of the league between Melbourne Stars versus Sydney Sixers. But Star's Syed Faridoun's sprint to the wicket rescued him from becoming the first victim of the rule and getting into history books.
The official rule states that at the fall of wicket or in case of retirement, the incoming batter must be ready to face the next delivery within 75 seconds. And if the batter fails to arrive in time, then they must stand to the side of the pitch for the first delivery of their innings and allow the bowler a free ball at the stumps.
If the ball strikes the wicket the batter is out bowled. If the ball misses the wicket it is counted as a dot ball and a ball faced.
Another aspect of the rule states that, if the bowler delivers a no-ball, the next delivery is a free hit. And if the new batter who is at the non-striker (the batters crossed while the ball was in the air, the wicket fell at the end of the over or there was a run out at the bowler's end), then same process is followed when they get on strike to face their first delivery.
The rule, which was introduced for 7th and 11th Season of Women Big Bash League and Big Bash League, respectively was heavily criticized after not being strictly used in the Women’s competition, but was nearly used on Sunday night leaving commentators confused to explain how it works.
However, the motive of management to introduce such rule is to encourage faster play after observing the fact that matches in the leagues across the world have stretched past three hours.
Similarly, Australia's blockbuster tournament introduced three new rules, just ten days before the tenth edition of the league. The rules were, Power Surge, X-Factor, and Bash Boost.
Power Surge, eventually makes the game tougher for bowlers by comprising two over period where the fielding side will have to keep only two players outside the 30-yard circle. The Power Surge can be exercised after 11th over of the innings. Whereas, X-Factor, allows 12th or 13th player in the team to be part of the game replacing any player who is yet to bat or bowl, no more than one over.
The most interesting and unprecedented of these is Bash Boost. This rule grants bonus points to the chasing team in the midway of the game if they are above the score of their opposition at 10th over. However, if the chasing team is behind the score till 10th over, the fielding side gets the bonus points.
The league has witnessed some insanely weird rules but it will be interesting to watch if these rules are strictly used to enhance the quality of cricket or introduced just to make headlines.