IPL 2020 to have 'specialist' umpire to monitor no-balls

After MI seamer Malinga's no-ball against RCB last season created a stir, the BCCI has decided to introduce an extra umpire to monitor no-balls in IPL 2020.

Mumbai Indians pacer Lasith Malinga no ball in a match against Royal Challengers Bangalore was a major controversy in the IPL.

Umpiring errors became a talking point in the Indian Premier League (IPL) last season. Despite top umpires on duty, there were instances when they failed to make the right calls, especially on no balls.

And keeping that in mind, the Board of Control for Cricket in India (BCCI) is likely to depute a 'specialist' umpire for each game to monitor no balls. The matter was discussed in the IPL Governing Council meeting, which was held at the BCCI headquarters on Tuesday, under the supervision of former India cricketer, Brijesh Patel.

Confirming the development, one of the members of the Governing Council said that this effort is being taken to reduce the errors. “There will be a specialised umpire for this, who will work in co-ordination with the on-field umpires and the third umpire. This is an effort to reduce errors,” the member said.

Before introducing it in the IPL, it will be tried out at domestic tournaments. “It can be tried out in any tournament, even in Ranji Trophy. We will discuss it further and see how it goes.”

The Governing Council members -- Patel, Khairul Jamal Majumdar and Surinder Khanna -- also discussed the ‘Power Player’ concept — where the teams will be allowed to substitute a player at the fall of a wicket or at the end of an over at any point in the game.

However, a top Board official confirmed that it won’t be implemented in IPL 2020 due to ‘shortage of time’. “We are exploring all the options and a decision will be taken over the course of time. The idea is to make the tournament fan-friendly, and we will take every suggestion into consideration. But Power Player may not be used in the next edition of the IPL due to lack of time,” the official said. “Before we implement that in the IPL, we need to test that in domestic tournaments and that will take some time,” the official told  Sportstar .

In the meeting, it was also discussed that from next year, the number of day matches will be reduced and the matches could also have an early start. However, those will be deliberated further in due course of time.

Franchises may play friendlies abroad

In another development, it was decided that the franchises could be allowed to play friendlies abroad in a bid to promote the game. Earlier, the Committee of Administrators (CoA) had shot down Mumbai Indians’ proposal of playing friendlies outside India. But the new IPL Governing Council is set to give a green light to the franchises to play friendlies abroad. “We are also looking at having a smaller friendly tournament in the period when there is no activity. But for that we will have to look at the ICC FTP and then decide,” one of the officials said, making it clear that the matter needs more discussion.

IPL auction in Kolkata on December 19

It was also decided that the IPL auction will be held on December 19 in Kolkata. Sportstar had earlier reported about such a possibility and on Tuesday, the Governing Council, too, decided that it will be a one-day auction. The auction is traditionally held in Bengaluru, but last time the affairs were held in Jaipur on December 18. This time too it's a small auction with franchises allotted Rs 85 core to build their sides for the tournament. The franchises also have an additional Rs 3 crore in addition to the leftovers from last auction.

“We have been informed that all tradings need to be done by November 14 and the auction will be held in December 19,” one of the franchise bosses told this publication.