During the second innings of every IPL 2025 match, the umpires can replace the ball after 11 overs.
Royal Challengers Bengaluru (RCB) head coach Andy Flower felt that the new rule for Indian Premier League (IPL) 2025 to introduce a second ball in the second innings of matches is a great move by the BCCI.
The former Zimbabwe batter felt that changing to a drier ball after 11 overs in the second innings would be fair for the side defending their total.
The high heat during the day in Indian summer followed by a sudden drop in temperatures during the evening usually causes the formation of dew which forms a layer on the pitch and the grass on the field. This puts the team bowling second at a disadvantage as the dew-soaked ball usually makes it tougher for the bowlers to grip. With the introduction of the new rule, captains winning the toss will hesitate to blindly elect to bowl first.
Ahead of the IPL 2025 opener between defending champions Kolkata Knight Riders and RCB at the Eden Gardens in Kolkata, Flower fully backed the rule.
“I’ve always wondered why there was this reticence on the umpires’ part to change the ball, to make it an even and fair contest, and that’s what we’re looking for,” Flower said at the pre-match press conference.
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“You know, the people that make the rules under which we play the game of cricket, and ground staff preparing pitches, we’re always looking for a fair balance between bat and ball, and in conditions where dew does affect game significantly, think that’s a really good rule change, and about time,” he added.
However, the former England head coach felt that lifting the ban on using saliva to shine the ball would not affect the game by much.
“The saliva part, I mean, I don’t see it as being that important. We’ll see if it has an effect, as long as not too many people all of a sudden become huge fans of sugary sweets,” Flower said, referring to several past controversies where players had used sugar from chewing gum to shine the ball.
While speaking about the shift in physical prowess among modern batters for the purpose of power-hitting, Flower felt that the quality of T20 cricket will always depend on classical batters like former RCB skipper Virat Kohli.
“There’s still place in the game for players like Virat Kohli as well, who is obviously, super fit, strong young man as well. But there’s still space for high quality, highly intelligent cricketers like that as well,” he said.
For the first time since the inaugural match of IPL in 2008, the season will begin with a clash between RCB and KKR. The inaugural season was an instant hit with the fans. Brendon McCullum, opening for KKR, smashed an unbeaten 158 off 73 balls which included 10 boundaries and 13 massive sixes to take them to a total of 222/3 – a massive score in 20 overs for that time.
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