BCCI intervened: Deliberate off-balls on the front legs prompting suspension of the match

The BCCI has made a significant change to the playing conditions ahead of the 2026-2027 domestic season and now a bowler will be suspended for the rest of the match for intentional no-balls on the front foot or no-landing.

Under the existing rules, a bowler would be suspended only for that particular innings for such deliveries.

The BCCI has circulated the changes recently proposed by the Marylebone Cricket Club (MCC) to all state associations.

“Bowler suspended for intentional front leg, no ball can play full match. but change of playing conditions (41.8) to be decided by on-field umpires,” the BCCI said in a circular accessed by PTI.

Another major change to the rules is to close the day and now the last over will have to be completed even if a wicket falls in it.

Currently stumps are drawn if a wicket falls in the middle of the last over of the day.

But the MCC, and by extension the BCCI, felt that rule 12.5.2 needed to be amended because it “prevented teams from fielding a new batsman late in the day”.

Similarly, teams will henceforth not be allowed to declare or forfeit (Rule 15.2) the last innings of a match as the governing bodies felt that “it was used for contrived results and bad for the game”.

Now, the head coach of the team will be allowed to enter the field during drinking breaks during domestic one-day matches as the ICC has proposed a change in the rules of international cricket in this regard.

The wicketkeepers were also relieved by the proposed changes as their gloves must be behind the stumps (Rule 27.3) only at the time of delivery.

Previously, wicketkeepers had to ensure that their gloves remained behind the wicket once the bowler started his run-up.

In several earlier cases, the law resulted in the ball being called a “no-ball” or being voided.

State associations have started informing referees and match officials of the new rule changes ahead of the domestic season, starting with the Duleep Trophy next month.

“Apart from making the relevant parts of the circular available to them, there will be some awareness programs for the officials. We have enough time to do all this as the domestic season is almost a month away,” an official told PTI.

– The end

Issued by:

Saurabh Kumar

Published on:

21 Jul 2026 19:04 IST