The Marylebone Cricket Club (MCC), the age-old custodian of cricket laws, had recently made some notable changes to some of the existing rules of the game. As a part of its amendment of the 2022 code, a new set of laws was introduced and new laws like the saliva ban, Mankading all were discussed.
However, Law 18.11 – batters returning when caught – or you could say the strike-rotation rule, is something that has caused a storm. This new rule is set to be applied in the Indian Premier League (IPL) 2022 as well and some are not happy with it.
What is this new law and what does the strike-rotation rule mean?
According to the new Law 18.11; when a batter gets caught, the new batter will start at the striker’s end (unless it is the end of an over), even if the batters have had crossed before the catch was taken.
To explain in simple terms, earlier, the striker and the non-striker would run and change ends while the ball is hit in the air. However, if the ends were changed before the striker was caught out, the new batter coming in would go to the non-striker’s end.
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But now according to the new rule, this won’t be allowed. The MCC has made changes that means if the striker is dismissed by a catch, even if the two batters have crossed paths, the new man only will have to take the strike. This rule won’t apply if the delivery on which the dismissal occurred is the final ball of an over.
While this rule will be applicable in international cricket from October later this year, the Indian cash-rich tournament has decided to enforce it straightaway.
The idea behind this rule is to give bowlers a little bit of an advantage and it was implemented during the inaugural season of ‘The Hundred’ last year on a trial basis.
Why the criticism?
Rajasthan Royals (RR) all-rounder Jimmy Neesham is one of the players who has criticized the new strike-rotation rule. He said that it rewards the batter for being unaware of the match situation.
“I don’t really understand the point of this. Has this rule ever been a problem? Also rewards batsmen who don’t stay aware of the match situation. Don’t like it,” Neesham wrote on Twitter.
I don’t really understand the point of this. Has this rule ever been a problem? Also rewards batsmen who don’t stay aware of the match situation.
Don’t like it. https://t.co/6yPsHjFNSk
— Jimmy Neesham (@JimmyNeesh) March 16, 2022
As for the IPL, it is all set to begin from March 26 in Maharashtra. The New Zealand all-rounder will represent RR and this will be his fourth team in the IPL since making his debut in 2014.
He had started off playing for Delhi Daredevils (now Delhi Capitals). In 2020 and 2021, the left-hander played for Punjab Kings (PBKS) and Mumbai Indians (MI) respectively. Recently, Neesham has been in impressive form and he could get more game time as expectations from him are pretty high.
