In a statement released by the Board of Control for Cricket in India (BCCI) after holding its 19th Apex Council meeting on Friday (July 7) in Mumbai, the India cricket board introduced three major changes to India's premier T20 competition, Syed Mushtaq Ali Trophy. As per the new regulations, two bouncers will be allowed every over in order to strike a balance between the ball and the bat.
"The BCCI has decided to introduce two bouncers per over in the upcoming Syed Mushtaq Ali Trophy to balance the contest between bat and ball," the Indian cricket board said in a release.
The big change came in the Impact Player rule which was trialled in the competition last year and later implemented in the Indian Premier League (IPL) 2023. Last season in Syed Mushtaq Ali Trophy, a team was supposed to use the Impact Player before the 14th over. In the upcoming season of the competition, teams will be allowed to use the Impact Player at any juncture of an innings.
"The teams can use the Impact Player at any time during the match. In the previous season of the Syed Mushtaq Ali Trophy, a team could only use the Impact Player before the 14th over of an innings," the release said.
Another big change comes in relation to the announcement of playing XIs. The teams will now have to reveal their playing XIs before the toss, including four substitutes from which they will select the Impact Player.
"The teams will have to select their playing XI along with 4 substitute players before the toss," the release added.
Apart from the aforementioned rule changes, the BCCI also confirmed the participation of Indian men's and women's teams in the Asian Games 2022 which is scheduled to be held in September.
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