Ranji Trophy: BCCI Tweaks Rules Ahead Of New Season; Retiring Batters To Be Considered Out

Retiring batters midway through an innings will now be considered a dismissal as per a set of tweaks that the Board of Control for Cricket in India (BCCI) has implemented ahead of the start of the new Ranji Trophy season. (More Cricket News)

Ranji Trophy 2024-25 begins Friday, October 11 and as per Cricbuzz, on the eve of the tournament a communique was sent to the state teams by the BCCI. The highlight of the new playing conditions was the part where retiring batters could not return again to play in that innings.

As per the Cricbuzz report the communique sent by the BCCI statess, "A] 25.4.3 Batter retiring for any reason other than injury, illness or unavoidable cause: He will be considered as dismissed immediately on retirement and will NOT have the option of returning to bat even with the consent of the opposing captain."

This will be applicable for all BCCI domestic matches, the message stated. The BCCI has also stated that this new rule can apply even to Super Over situations.

Another interesting change is that the use of saliva on the ball will result in the immediate change of the ball apart from penalties.

At the same time the rule on aborting a run has also seen a little tweak.

As per the new playing conditions: "Once the batters decide to abort a run after crossing and a boundary results from an overthrow before they have re-crossed, only boundary 4 shall be scored."

CK Nayadu Trophy, the U-23 domestic tournament, will see points being given for batting and bowling. Teams scoring over 400 runs in 100 overs will get five points but if they take more than 100 overs than they will get four. However, what would happen if a team crosses 400 runs while fielding through penalty runs? BCCI has clarified.

BCCI mentions two scenarios to explain the new rule.

Scenario 1: "Team 'A' batting 1st is all out for 398 in 98 overs in the 1st innings (They will get 4 batting points). Team 'A' while fielding gets awarded 5 penalty runs as a result of which Team A's score now becomes 403 in 98 overs. Team 'A' will now get 5 batting points."

Scenario 2: "Team 'A' batting 1st is all out for 398 in 100.1 overs in the 1st innings (They will get 4 batting points). Team 'A' while fielding gets awarded 5 penalty runs as a result of which Team A's score now becomes 403 in 100.1 overs. They will not get the 5th Batting Point."